It was an ironic twist of fate that delegates to the Liberal Party of Canada’s 2012 biennial in Ottawa would vote to create a supporter system and elect a decided supporter system skeptic – Matthew Certosimo – as national membership secretary, with the task of creating and overseeing the system
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The Progressive Right: Liberal Party to Accredit Bloggers to Liberal Convention ( #lpc #lib14 )
I would be remiss not to mention on my blog that the Liberal Party of Canada will be accrediting bloggers to the 2014 Biennial Convention in Montreal. A similar note is posted to the Progressive Bloggers homepage. I know Scott and Dan have been accredited as bloggers, waiting to hear
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Why I’m Supporting Brian G Rice for Liberal Party President ( #lpc #lib14 )
On January 19, I endorsed Brian Rice for Liberal Party president. I’m not a Member of Parliament, a Senator, a candidate, or party official … I’m just a regular guy. A regular guy who wants a Liberal government. To that end, I donate, I volunteer, I attend conventions, I propose
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Exit interview: Liberal Party of Canada president Mike Crawley
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 readingThe Progressive Right: Ontario Liberal Party Accrediting Bloggers to #OLPAGM? ( #OLP #onpoli )
I have inquired as to whether the party will be accrediting bloggers to the 2014 Ontario Liberal AGM on March 21-23. If I hear anything, dear readers, I’ll let you know and update this post accordingly. I will be attending the AGM as a delegate and will be tweeting /
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: I’m Running to be Pickering-Uxbridge #LPC Riding President ( #PickeringUxbridge )
A riding whatsit? 🙂 Interestingly, I had a conversation with someone about what a riding president does exactly. Essentially, the riding association president is the conduit between the party and the riding. The president acts on behalf of the party in the riding, and on behalf of the riding members
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: News roundup: November 30, 2013 Here are a few thoughts about…
News roundup: November 30, 2013 Here are a few thoughts about recent Canadian political stories (in no particular order). Liberal spin on the Toronto Centre by-election Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals have been falsely claiming they ran a wholly positive campaign in the Toronto Centre by-election, and that this
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: By-elections give Liberals more hope – and a lot more hard work
Hope and Hard Work has become the oft-repeated Liberal mantra under Justin Trudeau. And it can also be used to describe where the Liberals find themselves after Monday’s by-elections: with a little more hope, and a lot more hard work ahead of them. The hope: with significant gains in vote
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Protection of the #Pickering Lands; An Open Letter to LPC(O) Delegates (#lpc #cdnpoli)
Dear Liberal Friends, This weekend is the LPC(O) Policy Prioritization Meeting & Executive Board. You will be asked to prioritize 10 policy resolutions for debate at the Liberal Party of Canada Biennial in Montreal. It’s an impressive list of great ideas, showcasing clearly what Liberals care about. On that list,
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Liberal Policy Proposal : Protect the Pickering Lands (#lpc #cdnpoli #NoPickeringAirport)
Excited that the Ajax-Pickering Federal Liberal Association has approved the policy proposal to protect the Pickering Lands. This policy was developed in consultation with Land Over Landings and is an example of how the Liberal Party develops policy with support from local community groups. I was happy to play a
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: What would Jack Layton say about Linda McQuaig’s push for a two-person debate?
Four federal by-elections have been called for Nov. 25th, including in Toronto Centre. While a new poll shows the Liberals comfortably ahead, I think it’s going to be a real battle. And so does NDP candidate Linda McQuaig, judging by the gambit she launched this weekend. McQuaig is challenging Liberal
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Jason Cherniak launches campaign for Liberal nomination in Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill
It’s always fun when a friend throws their hat in the political ring, and so it was an honour Sunday to venture up to Aurora as Jason Cherniak launched his campaign for the federal Liberal nomination in the newly created riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill. Over 100 people were in
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Dominic LeBlanc to bloggers: Will Conservatives’ throne speech be flash or substance?
On throne speech eve, I took part in a Liberal bloggers conference call with Dominic LeBlanc, MP for Beauséjour and Liberal house leader, where he discussed the party’s plans for the fall session of parliament and what we’re expecting from today’s speech from the throne. LeBlanc said the Liberals are
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Protect the Pickering Lands #onpoli #cdnpoli #NoPickeringAirport
Check out Common Ground, and add your voice to protect the Pickering Lands and say no to Flaherty’s Folly International Airport. The Conservative government in Canada wants to convert over 13,000 acres of prime farm land into an international airport (one that’s not needed) and for undisclosed industrial use. While
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Cell phone packages and cable bills: Is this the real middle class agenda?
The Harper government won’t deliver its speech from the throne until Wednesday, but the theme has been telegraphed for months, and much of the contents well-leaked over the past week. The government will appropriate the middle class theme that Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has been trumpeting since he began his
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Getting to know Amy Robichaud, Liberal nomination contestant in Scarborough-Southwest
While the 2015 federal election is a long ways off (if Stephen Harper actually sticks to his fixed election date law, that is), in a sign of the strength and renewal of the Liberal Party of Canada, quality candidates are already beginning to come forward and begin organizing for what
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liberals and NDP pick their Toronto-Centre by-election candidates
A busy day in downtown Toronto on Sunday, as both the Liberals and the NDP picked their candidates to replace Bob Rae as the MP for Toronto-Centre at nomination meetings just a subway stop apart. It made for interesting comparisons, and I attendeed both meetings. The Storify below shares some
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Ideas for opening Liberal nominations
I’m a big proponent of open riding nominations. During the Liberal leadership race, I was proud when my candidate released an extensive party reform proposal including an open nomination process, and I was pleased when many of the other candidates – including the eventual winner, Justin Trudeau – joined us
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: While We’re Focused on Chemical Warfare
It’s interesting how selective the United States can be about weapons of mass destruction given that the U.S. continues to be responsible for widespread death and destruction from its own chemical and nuclear weapons. The gas that Obama-Kerry are blaming on Assad appears to have killed somewhere between a few
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: This poll and that poll – more summer bad news for the Conservatives
More polls to talk about today. First, two-thirds of Canadians who were polled disapprove of Prime Minister proroguing Parliament in Sept and waiting until late October to reconvene Parliament. As I said in my blogpost just the other day, this is probably the most “conventional” use of proroguing Parliament (or
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