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But then the NDP came to a fork in the road, and rather than choose one path or the other, it sliced its car down the centre and sent each rickety half careening down a lane. Mulcair was still for universal daycare (keeping his fingers crossed the provinces would eventually be convinced to cough up some funding), and universal pharmacare, and greater infrastructure spending, and small business tax cuts, but he would also balance the budget, somehow, and see to just “modest” corporate tax hikes. He was vague on the question of whether a woman should be required to remove her veil during a citizenship ceremony — clearly not wanting to upset his party’s support in Quebec — though he did finally own his objection during the final French language debate. And yet, he was for the Energy East Pipeline, and then he wasn’t; he was for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and then he wasn’t; he was for Quebec nationalism, and Canadian federalism, and fiscal responsibility, and massive spending. Under Mulcair, the party of smart change had suddenly become the party of everything, which, generally speaking, isn’t very smart.

Trudeau could very well decide not to reform the system that elected him as prime minister, should that be the case

Trudeau, rather, stayed the course. That’s not to say his plan isn’t without flaws; indeed, his platform promises to “save home mail delivery,” despite eroding letter mail volumes and estimations that the phase-out would save $500 million per year, and then a couple pages later promises to make decisions “using the best data available” and investing “only in programs proven to offer good value.” What’s more, it’s easy to promise “real change” from the outside looking in — just ask Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, whose government decried partisan advertising until it realized it could be to its advantage, and decided to gut legislation restricting government ads last spring.

In a similar vein, Trudeau could very well decide not to reform the system that elected him as prime minister, should that be the case, or opt not to open up his government to greater public scrutiny. In that case, he will be accountable to the many Canadians who have received and believed his message of a fairer, more open, more accountable government. Making a checklist of change is an important — and likely, a fruitful — first step for the Liberals. Crossing the items off the list will undoubtedly prove much more difficult.

National Post

Robyn Urback • rurback@nationalpost.com | robynurback