When is liberal…..too liberal?

I admit it I am a liberal.

Liberal is now a dirty word, meaning I am liberal with other taxpayer’s money, liberal with government interference and liberal morally.

The question came up recently with my teenage kids at dinner. (Gone are the days of frivolous chat about the latest Avengers movie…I call this the era of the all-knowing university student!).

Do I think bathrooms should be genderless? Should we get rid of “sons” in our national anthem and replace it with a more gender-neutral word? Should Peel schools allow Muslim children a place to pray? I so miss the days when my kids thought I knew everything!

I am a Canadian liberal, that means that I may slant to the left but I start with Canadian law. That does not make me a constitutionalist. It is not the letter of the law I am concerned with but its impact on its citizenry. I believe in tax avoidance not in tax evasion. We should all contribute to society, but I don’t expect the government to misspend my money (Trudeau/Bombardier). Education and health are the great equalizers, it needs to be held federally to ensure all have equal access. All religion should be accommodated but not to the extent it impinges on the freedom of others. Allowing students, a room to pray hurts no one. We should recognize those that do not fall into the typical gender categories but that does not mean we should have fourteen different bathrooms. To begin with, we should have a gender neutral, male and female bathroom and we will work it out from there. The world is changing… give us some time to change with it.

To answer my kids – yes, anyone can be too liberal. Don’t be a slave to an ideology. Think freely and be guided by the impact your decision has on fellow Canadians.