This week's OttawaWatch was written several hours before the occurrence of the devastating Haiti earthquake. Lloyd Mackey hopes to recount some of the Ottawa faith-based help for quake victims, when he writes next week.

THE YEAR was 1987. I was managing a news-gathering team that, among other things, was trying to identify evangelical-leaning Christians in federal politics.

It was not hard to find such in the Conservative party and there were also quite a few among the Liberals.

The NDP was a bit more of a stretch, as its prairie populist roots, cultivated by Baptist preacher Tommy Douglas, tended to push social democrat Christians away from any right-leaning tendencies.

One day, one of the team came running in, exclaiming: "I found one. I found an evangelical NDPer!"

Her 'find' was Lynn McDonald, then the MP for Toronto Broadview-Greenwood. McDonald's 'evangelical' credentials were that she had been a staffer for Young Life and had, for some time, been an active participant at Little Trinity Anglican. That was where evangelical icon Harry Robinson had been the rector before moving in the mid-80s to St. John's (Shaughnessy) in Vancouver.

I called McDonald and chatted with her. She did check out as reported, until I asked her about her rapport with Little Trinity. With great regret, she said, she had recently transferred to another nearby Anglican Church.

As near as I can recall, her reason for changing was: "They got a new rector, Peter Moore. A very nice fellow, but he was an American. And not only that, but he was a Republican!"

She was reflecting, of course, the dichotomy that is endemic to the evangelical sector in Canadian Christianity. The political ideology to which individual Christians hold often helps shape the way in which they try to apply their Christ-and-Bible centred faith.

I was reminded of this 23-year-old story last week as I browsed some blog responses to Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's return from a French villa to the cold reality of Ottawa politics.

One response, coming from what I would describe as the 'anti-Harper-anti-blue-Liberal-pro-left' sector of political 'thought,' suggested that Ignatieff and his ilk ought to merge with the Conservatives -- because the Liberal leader, for all practical purposes, is "an American" and "a Republican." * * *

All this provided a setting for an Op-Ed proposal which came out of the Opposition Leader's office - via John McKay, the Scarborough-Guildwood Liberal MP and designated hitter for Ignatieff's quest to connect with evangelical Christians.

I don't know if any mainstream publications have picked up on the Ignatieff proposal. If I learn of any, I will report back.

But the piece itself, from this particular vantage point, demonstrates two things about the Liberal leader: his mental agility; and his ability to pull out personal experiences calculated to endear him to Christians who hold highly to both evangelical and social action ideals.

Early in the article, Ignatieff states:

"Wherever I've traveled, aid workers from religious organizations have impressed me with their dedication. I've witnessed first-hand the work they do -- the relief they provide, the moral courage they exemplify, the values they defend.

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"Christian aid groups stand in defense of values that embody faith, not necessarily to any one religion, but more to our shared humanity. Their spirit of generosity and their quest for peace are values that all Canadians endorse, and it's why people of faith will always have a home in the Liberal Party of Canada."

These words -- except for the partisan Liberal reference -- reflect the sentiments of Brian Stewart, recently retired CBC international correspondent. He has frequently spoken to the way in which his own faith has come to life by seeing Christians in action in some of the most difficult circumstances.

From there, Ignatieff speaks of the heavily gentrified Ottawa Bytown neighbourhood in which he and many other politicians live, owing to its proximity to The Hill.

He notes: "For my first three years in Ottawa, I lived across the street from the Salvation Army mission in the Byward Market. I walked past on my way to work each day. Down the road is the Shepherds of Good Hope.

"Once again, we see remarkable work being done by remarkable organizations, where volunteers and staff are relentless in working to bring hope to those of our neighbours who lack the basic comforts most Canadians take for granted."

There are many Christian MPs, likely most of them Conservative, who could speak just as sincerely and eloquently about the social action on their Ottawa doorsteps as does the Liberal leader.

In conclusion, Ignatieff writes of William Wilberforce, Desmond Tutu and the aforementioned Tommy Douglas, as good examples to follow.

He says: "William Wilberforce, a converted evangelical Christian, led the movement to abolish slavery in the 19th century, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached the end of Apartheid in the 20th. And in our own country, in my own memory, Tommy Douglas, the father of Medicare, 'the Greatest Canadian,' was a Baptist minister.

"For each of these individuals, their generosity of spirit and desire for a more fair and just world was rooted in the values embodied by their faith. It's clear we must -- and we can -- work together to build a more inclusive society, where all are welcome and all are protected."

The reference to Wilberforce, particularly, has held a lot of resonance among Christians who are conservative, in recent years, through several programs in political action and management being developed by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.

* * *

It sounds, from this corner, like the Liberal leader is pretty close to being willing to collaborate with Stephen Harper in areas involving values on which they have similar (moderate, carefully-crafted small-c conservative/christian-friendly) views.

I have a modest suspicion that the current prorogue could provide the breathing space that will enable a little more talking from the same page, on both sides of the parliamentary aisle. Some of my more cynical friends are suggesting that I am smoking something strange. * * *

Lloyd Mackey is a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and author of Stephen Harper: The Case for Collaborative Governance (ECW Press, 2006); More Faithful Than We Think: Stories and Insights on Canadian Leaders Doing Politics Christianly (BayRidge Books, 2005); and Like Father, Like Son: Ernest Manning and Preston Manning (ECW Press, 1997). Lloyd can be reached at lmackey@canadianchristianity.com.

January 13/2010