Ottawa - Scott Brison, who is joining the Liberal leadership race today, says the party has to look beyond old political formulas and focus on fresh ways to keep Canada prosperous and curb environmental degradation.

At 38, the urbane, personable MP from Nova Scotia is clearly in a position to take advantage of widespread interest in new ideas and new faces among young Liberals. But Brison, who ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives only three years ago, will have to overcome the wariness reserved for party switchers.

"In 1954, Pierre Trudeau was at CCF or NDP meetings. In 1968, he was the Liberal prime minister of Canada," Brison points out in an interview. "The fact is, I chose the Liberal party based on my values. I believe in social progress and I believe in economic opportunity."

The former investment banker says he has little time for the current debate among Liberals over whether the party should pick a leader who will move it to the left of the political spectrum to better fight the Conservatives in the next election.

"Some candidates are talking about being centre-left, some are talking about uniting the left. I think that is 1960s ideologically rigid babble. And it doesn't serve Canadians well for us to be stuck in the 1960s."

Instead, Brison says he will contest the leadership on a "green" platform that calls for a sweeping shake-up of economic policy, including personal and corporate tax cuts, to prompt business growth and curb pollution.

"Younger Canadians believe in creating greater levels of economic opportunity but, at the same time, they want to have a cleaner environment," he explains.

"Canada can be a global leader in the whole area of clean energy," he adds. "We can harness environmental policy to create greater economic opportunity."

As well, Brison will propose scholarship programs that reward youths for community or social development activities both at home and overseas.

"I want to build a more engaged generation of young Canadians."

Brison was first elected as a Conservative MP for the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants in 1997. But in 2003 he left the party — citing conflicting social views — after it merged with the more right-wing Alliance. He became public works minister in the Paul Martin government in 2004.

Today's announcement at a hotel in the scenic Annapolis Valley vaults Brison into a leadership contest with no obvious frontrunner and a potential field of more than a dozen candidates. The leadership vote will be held Dec. 2-3.

But Brison denies any suggestion that, as a youthful newcomer to the Liberals, he is running to get a head start in the next leadership race.

"I'm not running to position myself, I'm running to position the Liberal party," he remarks. Several MPs and senators are supporting him, he said, but he did not name them.

He will have to overcome negative fallout from revelations that, as public works minister last fall, he sent an email alerting a banking acquaintance that then-finance minister Ralph Goodale was about to make a long-awaited announcement on the tax treatment of income trusts. The RCMP is investigating circumstances surrounding the announcement to see if anyone illegally leaked information in advance of Goodale's decision. Brison says his email contained no insider knowledge and there was no wrongdoing on his part.