Amendments made to the New Constitution

When the LMM team arrived in Winnipeg I think we honestly felt we were facing a significant uphill battle against the forces that the party had mounted against our position. Everywhere there were 1Party buttons and T-shirts. Tables with pull up banners were promoting the proposed Constitution. All of this campaign being financed with members donations. Although we weren’t allowed equal access to promote our position Continue reading “Amendments made to the New Constitution”

Liberal Inc.

There have been many discussions over the past weeks regarding the proposed constitution and it’s potential impact on the party. While the party leadership and those opposed rarely agree on any of the issues, there is one point that can’t be disputed. The Liberal Party of Canada plans to create a massive corporate entity, an entity which will be paid for by the members, donors and EDA’s across Canada.

Continue reading “Liberal Inc.”

When is a survey not a survey?

The Liberal Party has made a lot of claims surrounding their recent survey of the membership. During a recent National Town Hall Telephone call, LPC National President stated that there were actually two surveys conducted. These two surveys yielded approximately 2000 responses. So based on less than 5% of the national membership and less than .5% of the number of ‘Supporting’ members the LPC considers this to be consultation. However, many people who actually saw the survey have serious problems with it. Further many members never even saw it.
Continue reading “When is a survey not a survey?”

To my fellow Alberta Liberals

A constitution isn’t a promotional document. Approval isn’t something to let slide, especially when the consequences of premature ratification will have a damaging effect on the culture of the Liberal party and democracy in Canada.

A constitution should set out values, rights and obligations in broad terms. Bylaws should drill deeper and give details that must be consistent with the broad terms set out in the constitution. SO I cannot support a constitution that does not set out the terms that are required and then says those who are to implement the constitution are free to define those values and who has what obligations to the members.

Continue reading “To my fellow Alberta Liberals”

The smoking gun???

Ever since this omnibus constitution was unveiled to the membership I have wondered what the true agenda was. The party leadership likes to use terms like “Modernization”, however, any experienced leader knows that this is just a political spin word that really means nothing. Whether a Corporate entity or a Political party, when an organization undertakes a massive restructuring of power and control there must be a reason. During our discussions amongst many Liberals across the country I often posed the question, “Why are they doing this? What is the real agenda? Well it seems one of my fellow Liberals may have stumbled onto something.

Continue reading “The smoking gun???”

When Conservatives teach Liberals membership respect …

It’s truly a sad day when I write the above title. However a recent article Angry at party brass, grassroots Conservatives ready for change AKIN in the Edmonton Sun shared with me by a fellow Liberal got me wondering.

The Conservatives have watched themselves and their party take a lesson in humility. While the party leadership seem to miss the message, the grassroots members across the country have not. Continue reading “When Conservatives teach Liberals membership respect …”

What the members wanted, not what they received.

In 2012 at the Ottawa Biennial Convention, the Ontario PTA proposed a policy on Democratic Renewal within the party. This proposal was subsequently given number 18 and was listed among the policies Policy-resolutions-2012-Ottawa-en for debate. You will find Proposal number 18 on page 29 of the resolutions.

Policy number 18 was subsequently discussed and debated and based on the information I have, was passed by a vote of 2,640 (80%) of the voting delegates. It was listed among the successful Policy Resolutions 2012 Policy-Results for the Ottawa Biennial.

The truly unfortunate part, is that if any component of the party; the NBOD, a Commission, the CoP, even a PTA  had picked up the ball, respected the wishes of the membership and created the “Renewal Commission” which the membership requested, today we would not be in the position that the party finds itself.

The Town Hall Phone Call that 100’s missed

If you missed out on the Town Hall Telephone call on May 11 I am able to now offer it to you.

I have to warn all listeners that I only thought of doing this as the conversation started so the quality is very poor. It was recorded by a cell phone sitting beside the ear piece.  This means there are some occasional background noises.

I did ask Anna and Simon for a quality copy however, first I was told “No, we don’t have a recording of the call to distribute.” Then I was told they didn’t have one at all. So this seems to be the best there is for the almost 2000 delegates who were not part of the call. Please understand, any silent parts or problems with recording are solely mine and my responsibility.

The Flawed Logic.

The proposed constitution is filled with Flawed Logic. Which begs the question, why is the party leadership so determined to achieve its passage? The leadership must know that all these people who will not pay $10 to become a Liberal member are not going to suddenly find money to donate to the party. Of course it seems those behind this omnibus document believe that the “Registered Liberals” of Canada will be no match for the persuasive powers of the media arm of the big red machine. There is also an opinion within the party as published in its “Building a Modern Liberal Party”

Let’s consider the Flawed Logic of just how many people will really care to become “Registered Liberals”. The party has often spoken of the 300,000 supporters who came to the party when the doors were opened to them. One important fact which is often omitted from the discussion however is where these supporters came from. The first ranks of the Supporter class came from expired Liberals. That’s right, tens of thousands of people who no longer cared about being a member of the Liberal party, were suddenly drafted into our ranks as Supporters and in some flawed logic it was believed that they were going to suddenly find their way home to the party. But did they?

Continue reading “The Flawed Logic.”