There was a time when immigrant, especially of colour, used to feel Liberal party as the natural home. It was the party which supported aspiration of all people and cultures, and it was party which gave us multicultural policies. Many of us, including myself have been ‘dyed in the wool’ Liberals, for they spoke for us and supported our goals and aspirations.

But lot has changed, for today’s Liberal party. It no longer holds the centrist stance domestically and ‘honest broker’ posture abroad. The difference between Liberals and PC have narrowed and in some cases disappeared. This happened in Paul Martin, Dion and Ignatieff’s watch. While Chretien had resisted American demand to support Iraq war, Martin acquiesced for Afghanistan war. It was considered as mini, petty, or small time war. It was during Paul Martin’s tenure that Canadian policy in Palestine, changed from neutral to active supporter of Israel.

Michael Ignatieff is a special case. He never hid his conservative credentials. At Harvard as Director of Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, he wrote scholarly papers justifying torture as permissible method of interrogation. This is reminiscent of the Serb University Professors who gave moral credence to Slobodan Milosevic.

Now Muslims find themselves politically homeless. NDP’s stand on Middle East and Afghanistan is very similar to our. They support independent Palestine and call for bringing back troops from Afghanistan. But on domestic economic issues many of us are less supportive of their position. Big government, high profile of unions and potentially high taxes are not what many of us believe in. Therefore most attractive alternative seems to be; strategic voting. Vote for the candidate and not the party.