So Adam Radwanski informs us that Harinder Takhar may be running for Liberal leader at the insistence of Sikh organizers who have been "leaning heavily" on Takhar to "publicly give voice to policy issues they want to put on the radar."
Nobody, least of all Takhar himself (who doesn't appear to have any opinion on the matter), thinks he will win, but clearly that's not the point. These organizers want to be heard, and Takhar is their go-to-guy. It's not enough for him to already be a cabinet minister- that's not enough influence. If there is the tiniest sliver of hope that he could win, that justifies the whole exercise, and even if he doesn't, he will deliver enough delegates to whoever does win so that that person will owe these organizers a debt of gratitude. Or not.
I have to wonder, what does this say about the political culture of our province? When groups are reduced to running obvious stalking horses for leader of the marquee Canadian Liberal provincial power on the off chance that they might get a few inches ahead of everyone else?
Why not just have everyone run their own candidate for leader? Where are the Chinese Canadians badgering Soo Wong or Michael Chan to run? Why aren't Hindu Canadians getting on Bas Balkissoon's case? I mean, it's not like the Liberals view these people as having any function other than being ethnic powerbrokers, right?
Luckily, there's one thing that binds Liberals of every gender, nationality, religion, and orientation together, and that is the shared belief that all power is derived from the state.
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