r/CanadianFutureParty

I was member #68 of the CFP.
Mine was one of the signatures that helped it achieve party status.
I was once a moderator of this Reddit.

I declined to renew after -- despite assurances given to me earlier -- the first convention had no online access, not even a non-participatory live-stream that takes almost no effort to set up. In the aftermath of that I came to the conclusion that the CFP was just old-style boomer politics that had little new to offer that would get it into the mainstream, a reaction against the hard-left shift of the Liberals and the hard-right shift of the Conservatives but little that was novel or proactive in either policy or process.

Then the Liberals chose Mark Carney, who immediately swung the Liberals to the centre, and then the country chose him too. He speaks and acts more like a Chretien or Mulroney than a Trudeau or Poilievre, arguably better than any of them. He's even more popular now than he was when he got elected. And now with a majority we likely have many years until the next general election.

In this environment -- now that the Liberals have solidly staked out a middle ground that is equally despised by the hard right and the hard left -- what oxygen remains for the CFP? It only ran one candidate in the recent by-elections (the promised candidate for Scarborough Southwest did not show up on the ballot) and that one candidate received 0.2% -- less than the Peoples' Party and the Centrist Party.

In this climate, when a centrist is now already in power, what space is left of the CFP on the political scale? What are its plans to get 1% of the vote, let alone anywhere near actual political power?

When I joined the CFP in its early days I had hoped that its governance and approach to policy development and candidate selection would offer something genuinely new and participatory, something that would justify using the word "Future" in its name. But that clearly never happened, it just became a place for disaffected politicians and political operatives to revive the Progressive Conservative party using the same structure and tactics. Nothing at all "Future" about it.

Plus, Canada now already has a Progressive Conservative PM. So without a new unique way to do politics, what alternative can the CFP offer? What is it even capable of offering?

You can't build a serious party around the "future" if your views on content and media are still rooted in print.

It's 2026, and video is what what wins hearts and minds. Not just video, but frequently posting content that is engaging and fresh. Look at Zohran Mamdani. He's still producing video, even after taking office months ago.

Video is free to film, free to write, free to edit (for those willing to learn) and free to publish. If your message is compelling, if your copy is well written, you WILL get traction.

Should there be a shuffle on policy priorities? Absolutely. No CFP donor/member is completely satisfied, and truthfully, the overton window continues to shift to the right on a number of issues. But the policies are merely prescriptions to the symptoms voters are feeling in the moment. No one is going to read your prescription if they don't hear or agree with your high-level diagnosis. This is why video is important and press releases are largely ignored.

If anyone is the CFP organization reads these things, I'd urge them to think in terms of short form video content. Don't be afraid to be entertaining. Voice the controversial stances you believe it. Use video to give your followers, people like us donors, the tools to convert others.

Be first to respond to the news. Is a foreign power influencing our elections? What's a 60-second to 2-minute video that outlines why it feels our institutions are fish in a barrel, and what we can do about it?

You have a free, nationwide megaphone in your pocket, use it to make yourself heard as many times a week as it takes. No sitting at a desk. Walk and talk. Imperfect takes are authentic, use them.

Just my 2 cents.

I signed up in August of 2024 long before Carney. I joined because I thought the party was largely a pro military version of the NDP. It seems like most people joined because they wanted a Progressive Conservative Party. I wanted a Conservative Progressive Party. Carney is largely eating Cardy’s lunch where it comes to military spending. I wanted a party that still has progressive views on race and gender religion etc without the full blown equity card mess that the Avi Lewis NDP has become. I wanted a party that stands for human rights and has the means to defend them, peacekeeping etc. it seems the majority of the party is progress conservatives that are more focused on tax rates and financial issues. This makes me wonder why be a Cardy Futurist when you can just be a Carney Liberal? What is Cardy offering that Carney is not? Why pay the $20 to be CFP when you can be a Liberal for free? I was hoping Cardy would be right of Trudeau but left of Carney. I think Cardy has to embrace some for radical positions to different themselves from Carney. Stuff like abolishing the monarchy or a universal basic income, something big and bold.