At the Convention, Liberals voted against the proposal to hold five staggered regional primaries. Liberals also voted to allow “supporters” the right to participate in the leadership process. Given, the initial rationale for the supporter inclusion was woven within this idea of primaries, it’s fair to say the Convention provided
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Progressive Proselytizing: Liberal voting reform endorsement reduces chances of NDP-Liberal merger
The question of a Liberal-NDP merger was something that was discussed quite openly following Harper’s ascent to a majority. Such poltical heavyweights as Jean Chretien even weighed in on the idea, and Jack Layton (an opponent or merger) has now passed away. It is thus worth noting, given recent events, how such
Continue readingFar and Wide: Marijuana: Liberal Canary In Coal Mine
An overwhelming majority, 77% of committed Liberal delegates voted to legalize marijuana. As well, if you do the math on the demographic delegate breakdown, you’ll find that even if one assumes every young Liberals voted in favour, you are still left with almost 2/3rds of the remaining delegates in favour.
Continue readingFar and Wide: Green Shoots
It’s important to not get carried away, after all you’re in a room full of the faithful, one would hope to see some bravado, simply as a by-product of natural self interest. That said, for all the talk of a moribund party, the Liberals managed to bring in an impressive
Continue readingTerahertz: Youth ostracism in Canadian politics
Elections in recent history have told the same story again and again: Young people aren’t voting. Sure, some of us are. Many others are attempting to bring in more of their peers through vote mobs and other social media pressures, yet to date the evidence is that these efforts have
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: What I Learned In One Day
As a politcal junkie conventions are one of the most exiciting events I can go to. This convention so far is no exception. At the convention is one of the only places in the world where you can tap someone’s sholder and say “hey Ima Liberal” and actually have a
Continue readingFar and Wide: You’re In, You’re Out, You’re Out, Carry On
Did you hear Bob Rae’s rousing speech to caucus today? Was there any doubt that is sounded very much like a guy ready to go for the permanent Liberal leadership job? A interim leader doesn’t need to defend an ancient record, unless of course that record could be used against
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Join the Alexandra Mendes call tonight and learn more about her plan to put members first!
Mendes has got momentum! With this great profile in iPolitics: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/01/10/alexandra-mendes-my-priorities-if-i-am-elected-president-of-the-lpc/ talking about putting members first, and her solid plan to engage and empower Young Liberals: http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/blog/5-young-liberals-les-jeunes-liberaux Alexandra Mendes would like to invite you to her conference call tonight to have your say and hear how she wants to put
Continue readingFar and Wide: Why The Lise St-Denis Defection Matters
Everyone spinning this story, perhaps this post is more of the same, but I think today’s “defection” of an NDP MP to the Liberals has some significance. I admit, I was absolutely stunned to hear these rumors this morning, there is just nothing intuitive to the idea that the Liberals
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: Opposition to Harper: Nonexistant
Who will rise this year to challenge Stephen Harper, to oppose him credibly? There might be many credible attacks on the Conservatives in 2012, but the no one will be listening. There was a reason the Tories received a majority government in May: so that Canadians would not have to
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: My Interview with Alexandra Mendès Part 2
Here is the second part of my interview with Alexandra Mendès. Q: How would you try to engage High School students to join the Liberal Party? A: We have to prepare them to vote for us. Canadian citizen’s lost the meaning of what the electoral process is all about. I think we
Continue readingthe reeves report: Whither the ‘Liberals’ on Toronto Council?
Toronto Councillor Shelley Carroll Back in July, 2011, a remarkable thing happened. Councillor Shelley Carroll, a progressive and vocal critic of Mayor Rob Ford, sent a letter to her riding association in Ward 33 (Don Valley East) which she has represented since 2003. Beyond her stated opinion that the City’s
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: My Interview with Alexandra Mendès Part 1
I had a phone interview with one of the candidates running for President of the Liberal party of Canada. As we all know this is one of the most important positions us Liberals have to elect at the Convention. Q: One of the issues the President of the Liberal party
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: Hidden Agenda of Zach Paikin?
As a delegate to the biennial convention, I have been doing my homework, researching each and every candidate for the executive (a surprisingly long and torturous process). While researching Zach Paikin, candidate for National Policy Chair, I of course found two controversial blog posts using facts to show how extremist he really is. Among the
Continue readingFar and Wide: Liberals And Mayans
I actually have very tempered expectations heading into the Liberal Convention. Truth be told, there is a good chance Liberals emerge from Ottawa with not much to show on the “renewal” front. It remains to be seen if anything of substance will be adopted or signals sent on the “personnel”
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: No to Liberal Primaries
There is a proposition that we Liberals instate a primary system for electing our next leader. This was clearly iterated in the Board’s document, “A Roadmap to Renewal.” It suggests having a new category of people called “supporters” who would not be members, but would still have the right to vote in leadership
Continue readingCalgaryLiberal: Liberal Convention 2012: The Need For Open Primaries
In 2011 I was on the convention floor in Calgary, Alberta, advocating for the same change that is in front of the federal Liberals today (see constitution document here [PDF]). I spoke of openness, inclusion, the need for a new force in politics, and the empowerment that an open primary
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Alexandra Mendes on renewal!
Some great stuff coming out of Alexandra’s campaign in the run up to the Convention. Here is her new piece on party renewal, and building a democratic framework http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/blog/4-renewal-le-renouveau Fellow Liberals, As 2012 dawns with the promise of renewal the start of a new year offers us, I would like
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Alexandra Mendes on the record
Here’s a collection of the questions and answers given to Alexandra Mendes last night on her Facebook chat. I’ve edited a couple for length and clarity slightly, and in a couple cases either combined or omitted a part of a question which asked the same general points repeatedly. I’ve also,
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