Understanding The Interim Leadership Agreement
During a press conference yesterday, Liberal Party president, Mike Crawley, said:”The board will bring clarity to whether the interim leader can seek the permanent leadership and, if so, if there’s…
PDO
Bob Rae, Mike Crawley, The Leadership Committees And The "Rules"
Yesterday, in an article for Postmedia News, Lee Berthiame reported: The board , which has a number of new members, including party president Mike Crawley, is currently in the process…
Tom Mulcair Responds To David Akin (sort of)
Yesterday, in a post for his On The Hill blog, David Akin reminded his readers that, 10 years ago, Tom Mulcair supported a Parti Québecois resolution in the Quebec National…
Nails It Again
With the Mulcair NDP and the Harper Conservative ground so clearly staked, Liberals now have a unique opportunity to define the vital center without kowtowing to the left or the…
Nails It
From the day resigned in 1984 to today, the Liberal Party has never developed a new and cogent framework for what it believes in. In her book “Divided Loyalties”, Brooke…
Accuracy Matters: Primaries, Staggered Regional Voting Days & The Mainstream Media
In a column for the Globe and Mail, Rob Silver rightly points out that there is a lot of hype surrounding the Liberal Party’s biennial convention. Much of that hype…
Staggered Primaries(?): Unprecedented And Undemocratic
The Liberal Party’s proposal for using staggered primaries to select its next leader is unprecedented in the history of Western democratic political parties. And there’s a good reason for that:…
Final Amendments To LPC Constitution Are Out
They’re available here.These are the amendments for a new leadership selection process:Electing a Leader using a system of staggered regional voting daysBackground: In order to raise the interest of the…
Final Proposals From The National Board Are Out
You can read them here.Here’s the final version of the open primary proposal:That the Constitution be amended to extend the right to participate in the selection of the next permanent…
Dion Speaks, Harper Government Scrambles
I’m starting to notice a trend.Two weeks ago, I noted that an op-ed written by Stephen Harper’s point man on Senate reform, Bert Brown, seemed deliberately tailored to blunt the…
On Primaries: Liberals Have A Weight(ed) Problem
Even if you don’t support the National Board’s proposal for phased open primaries, the current leadership selection process will likely have to be changed.According to the current rules for selecting…
New economic order needed to fight climate change: Dion
From Brockville’s Recorder & Times:The world needs a new economic order if it is to mitigate the effects of climate change, former Liberal leader and onetime environment minister Stéphane Dion…
The National Post’s Poli Sci 101 for Marc Garneau: A Rebuttal
In their editorial today, on the Liberal Party’s position regarding the redistribution of seats in the House of Commons, the National Post editorial board clearly demonstrates they’re in need of…
French Socialists Do It Better Than Canadian Liberals (so far)
Steve at Far and Wide has an excellent post today that captures the excitement an open primary could bring to the Liberal leadership race. And I agree with Steve and…
Stephane Dion: Once More Into The Lion’s Den
In late October, Senator Bert Brown wrote an op-ed for the Hamilton Spectator titled, Seize the moment: Reform the Senate. In his column, Sen. Brown went beyond the Harper Government’s…
Phased Open Primaries Are Undemocratic
One of the hallmarks of democracy is an informed electorate. The phased open primaries proposed by the National Board of the Liberal Party, falls significantly short of adhering to this…
Open Primaries: What happens if no candidate has a majority?
Let’s take a closer look at Key Proposal 7:That the Constitution be amended to extend the right to participate in the selection of the next permanent leader of LPC to…
Some Early Reactions To The Liberal Party’s Open Primary Proposal
The Liberal Revolution, Toronto Star editorial boardPeople who hit rock bottom sometimes try to save themselves by getting into a 12-step program. Step 4 involves making “a searching and fearless…
TEXT: Building A Modern Liberal Party by Alfred Apps
Here’s a link to the entire 79 page document.Building A Modern Liberal PartyIn the wake of the Canadian federal election of May 2, 2011, the Liberal Party of Canada (“LPC”…
Sen. Bert Brown Confirms What PDO Readers Already Knew
Namely that Postmedia News got it wrong on the Senator’s new override proposal for a reformed Senate.Re: “Father of Triple-E Senate rethinks ‘equal’ part?; Proposal gives Ontario, Quebec veto power…