There is a great deal of media speculation that former Ontario Premier and NDP leader Bob Rae will join other former New Democrats Ujjal Dosanjh, Chris Axworthy and Glenn Murray, and run in the next federal election as a Liberal candidate. Moreover, there is speculation that Rae will consider being a candidate for leader of the federal Liberal party if and when Paul Martin retires. One question that is rarely addressed when this speculation arises is this, why are so many New Democrats switching over to the Liberals?

The easy answer is opportunism. But I don’t see this. Dosanjh could have easily stuck around BC politics long enough to see the re-emergence of the NDP and been a major player. Axworthy faced a very uphill battle to win a seat as a Liberal in Saskatchewan. Glenn Murray lost his seat. And Bob Rae has many, many challenges to overcome if he hopes to be reborn as an elected politician, especially as a Liberal.

Like many former NDP members I share Rae’s criticism of the NDP, specifically the federal branch of the party. In the 1990’s Canada’s huge debt and low productivity threatened the future of our country. But those New Democrats outside of Manitoba and Saskatchewan legislatures were steadfast in their opposition to any cuts in services or expenditures. I too shared this zeal, writing angry letters to the paper to rally opposition to the cuts. But as with Rae reality soon set upon me.

When Bob Rae came to power in Ontario he sympathized with former NDP governments in Canada who faced opposition from the left. “Ironically, Tommy Douglas’s minister of finance, Clarence Fines, always used to ask his cabinet colleagues why they wanted to make bankers rich by paying them more and more interest.”

In the 1970s, while the NDP supported the minority government of Pierre Trudeau, innovative programs were introduced. The left in Canada was a beehive of imagination and innovation. But since the realities of large deficits and low productivity, not to mention globalization, have confronted all governments the left in Canada has become strangely reactionary, opposing any and all change in the name of 1970’s orthodoxy.

In the 1990’s friends of mine tried in vain to introduce Tony Blair’s “Third Way” ideas to the federal NDP. It didn’t go over well. (It reminded me of Python’s skit pitting the “People’s Front of Judea and “the Judean People’s Front”) In spite of that many on the left now concede that Blair’s government has successfully dealt with issues like child poverty while at the same time reducing government debt. It took imagination and courage.

Former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice MacKinnon in her recent book “Minding the Public Purse” underlines the challenge facing us. “Canadian productivity began to fall relative to the United States in 1974, and by 2000 Canadian productivity trailed American by 19 percent.” In other words without increasing the overall wealth of Canada the monies available for health, education, and poverty-reduction would be hard to find.

Without a competitive economy (which means freer trade), without higher productivity, without reducing debt, our ability to pay for the social programs I know are needed becomes jeopardized. The key is to propose policies that protect the environment, protect the poor, and remain fiscally responsible. An example of using this methodology and being open to new ideas was the National Child Benefit. MacKinnon hails this program.

We need more ideas like the NCB that focus on education, health, homelessness. But in order to do that we need leaders like Bob Rae who have a long standing desire for social justice and at the same time an open mind to new ideas and a realistic notion of what a 21st century economy can deliver. My guess is that a lot of lefties are ready for a leader like Rae or Ken Dryden. And don’t be surprised if more New Democrats jump ship if either one becomes leader.