When Mike Crawley won the presidency of the Liberal Party of Canada in January 2012, defeating Sheila Copps, Alexandra Mendes and Ron Hartling at the party’s biennial convention in Ottawa, the party faced a number of challenges: declining public support, a weary volunteer base and a worrying fundraising gap. Add
Continue readingTag: 2012 Liberal Biennial
A BCer in Toronto: If we’re betting everything on leadership, Bob Rae must be clear on intentions
Reflectingon last weekend’s Liberal Party of Canada biennial convention, where delegatesvoted against reducing the powers of the leader and put much of their hope forrebuilding into one key initiative – admitting supporters into the party ranksand giving them a vote for the next leader – it seems clear to me
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Both hope and fear drove Liberal delegates in Ottawa
Looking back on my three days in Ottawa for the 2012 Liberal Party of Canada biennial convention it’s impossible to craft one clear narrative – did delegates embrace bold change or put their faith in the status quo – because the evidence is highly contradictory. And that, I suppose, is
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Kyle Harrietha’s speech to Liberals about membership
As I speak Kyle Harrietha, who I’m proud to support for Liberal membership secretary this weekend, is speaking to the nearly 3000 delegates at the Liberal biennial convention about his vision for membership and for the Liberal Party. Here’s his speech, which so far I have to say he’s knocking out
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Kyle Harrietha’s eight-page plan for Liberal membership
Before Christmas, when I wrote about why I was supporting Kyle Harrietha for Liberal membership secretary I spoke about his dedication to the Liberal cause, working for the party on the ground in Atlantic Canada and in Toronto, helping to rebuild a Liberal riding association in Northern Alberta, and working
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Blogger debate video: BCer in Toronto vs. Calgary Grit on primaries
Well, it’s the eve of the 2012 Liberal Party of Canada biennial convention and one of the debates generating the most interest and discussion (besides the great #lpc12 vs #ott12 hashtag debate with threatens to tear our fragile party asunder) is the proposal to adopt a primary-style system (see 2,
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Why I’m supporting Braeden Caley and James Morton for Liberal Party executive
I’m notunder the impression whom I’m supporting at this weekend’s Liberal conventionmeans anything besides the vote I get to cast as a delegate. After all, I’mjust a humble, honorific-lacking blogger. For what it’s worth though, I’ve beentaking my personal decisions about whom to support seriously. I believe theseexecutive elections are
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: 36 proposed Liberal constitutional amendments dissected and explained
Happy New Year to all; I hope you enjoyed the holidays. EspeciallyChristmas. I won’t say I’m resolving toblog more this year but I will try, and I’m sure I definitely will be in thenext few weeks as we head into the 2012 Liberal Biennial convention in Ottawa,beginning January 12th. I’m
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liberal Party is foolishly retreating from social media and blogging
I was disappointed to learn several weeks ago that the Liberal Party of Canada is retreating from its position as one of the early leaders in Canada in recognizing the importance of blogging, social media and citizen journalism to open and fair political debate. The uproar and bad publicity that
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Meeting the LPC presidential candidates, and why I like Mike
The Edward Blake Society, a group of Toronto-area no longer young except at heart Liberal professionals, hosted four of the five candidates for the Liberal Party of Canada presidency on Monday in Toronto (Charles Ward couldn’t make it) and around 100 Liberals packed the Pauper’s Pub to hear what they
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Primaries and mustaches
As promised earlier, I’ve written about the Liberal executive’s open primary leadership election proposal. You’ve got to go over to Macleans.ca to read it though; I’ll be occasionally writing for them on Liberal renewal and perhaps other exciting topic…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: We need to make a Liberal membership worth having
I’m working on a piece about the Liberal executive’s open primary proposal that will hopefully run Friday, but rather than make it even longer I’d like to tackle some of the other reform proposals released today here and make a wider point about …
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: What I’m looking for in a Liberal Party of Canada president
A key part of the Liberal Party of Canada’s reform process will be electing the next national executive at the biennial convention in January, and I’m glad to see we have four capable candidates seeking the position of president: Sheila Copps, Mike…
Continue reading