The Liberals were very much absent from the debate. The interim leader and about 2/3 of his caucus were absent from the votes. Mailing it in had a few Liberal partisan friends wondering again why they still back the Grits, now decimated.
I count myself as one of those who thought the LPoC's "no politics please, we're in the process of navel-gazing" approach to the filibuster disappointingly ineffectual. Granted, this was a relatively minor issue where popular opinion broke towards the government. And, luckily, more important votes are coming up where the Party could, and should, be prepared to go to the mat. I am thinking of any bill to dismantle the long-gun registry. Its a LPoC creation, and frankly the high-point of Iggy's career as party leader came when he whipped the vote and beat back the Torys' last attempt at repeal. It is, as well, an issue where the longer the debate goes on, the more it tilts against Harper and Co. If the LPoC can't summon some passion here, then I'm not sure what they're good for anymore.
And, and can we have a moratorium on this "its a long slow road back" talk? The party must be prepared to fight and win the next general election. Running on a slogan like "Vote for us: after a few more years worth of thumb-sucking we'll be ready to rule." would be political suicide. In 2015, many people who voted Liberal this time out will be looking for a vehicle by which pry the Harper Tories from power. If the LPoC isn't it, don't expect those folks to cast a vote their way out of nostalgia.
