The latest episode of the Examineradio podcast features two of my personal heroes, Megan Leslie and Peter Stoffer, two outstanding former members of parliament who represented Nova Scotia in Ottawa for years.
It’s an insightful and gracious interview that touches on the strengths of both Megan and Peter. One moment that stood out for me was when talk shifted to the differences between New Democrats and Liberals and Conservatives. Megan and Peter spoke about the core of social democracy and our values of long term institutional and societal change. Peter said so succinctly that our difference is “Social [democracy] basically means it’s not about you, it’s not about Megan, it’s not about me, it’s about us. It’s about all of us. Not just as individuals. And where the Conservatives / Liberals do very well is focusing on the individual. Tax cuts, if you’re OK, fine. But they really don’t focus on everyone at the same time. We live in a community.” The discussion went on to talk about our failures in communicating complicated issues succinctly and the commitment of New Democrats to long term fiscal stability so that we can sustain our long term goals of permanent social change.