By Deborah Gyapong
OTTAWA (CNN)
Computer Law Professor George Takach shocasing inovations for Liberals
Dan McTeague, one of about a dozen staunchly pro-life Liberals who lost their seats in the May 2011 federal election, is hoping for the revitalization of the once powerful Liberal Party.

One of more than 3,100 delegates at the Liberal biennial convention in Ottawa Jan. 13-15, McTeague said he hoped the party would be able to reach out to all Canadians, including the Catholic and ethnic voters who were once pillars of party support.

Political scientists think a collapse of Catholic and ethnic voter support is responsible for the Liberals' defeats in 2006 and 2008.
Last May the Liberals were demoted to third party status when their numbers dropped from 70 to 34. They recently picked up a Quebec NDP MP who crossed the floor, giving them a caucus of 35 MPs.

"I think it's important to bring in and include all religions, including mine, which is Roman Catholic," said McTeague, former MP for the Ontario riding of Pickering - Scarborough East. He added he still thinks the Liberals are the "natural party" for Catholic voters.
Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien
McTeague, who was first elected in 1993 and served various parliaments for 18 years, stressed his pro-life stand was not responsible for his defeat. He continues to believe the Liberal Party, despite having an official pro-abortion policy, has room for people like himself.

"It doesn't take a statement from one's own religion to demonstrate life is precious," McTeague said.

"If we want to accept those who have one position on a particular issue we also have to respect and embrace the others on the other sides," he said. "That's how we win a government."

At the convention, former Ontario wing head Mike Crawley won over former Liberal Cabinet Minister Sheila Copps by a mere 26 votes.

Young Liberals were successful in getting a resolution passed to legalize marijuana, but were not as successful with a push to legalize euthanasia.
Most of the resolutions concerned party governance and structural ways to attract new members, including allowing non-party members to vote for the Liberal leader.

In his closing remarks, Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae applauded the Liberal Party's role in the creation of the Charter and in bringing in "same-sex marriage," "which gives Canadians the freedom to marry whoever they want."

McTeague consistently voted his conscience, often against party policy, on life and family issues, in accordance with Catholic teaching, but he also saw room for supporting life in other areas, such as providing more support for women who find themselves facing an unwanted pregnancy.

The Liberal Party has traditionally allowed MPs to vote their consciences, unlike the NDP, which has forced MPs to leave caucus for doing so.