It is the conservative party that has to clean up the mess left by its federal caucus. Hopefully they will bring a renewed strength to their meetings on the road ahead. They should not think of it as the need another sacrificial lamb to lead their party in Ottawa.
But this time, they should do it right. They should be innovative and daring. First of all, they should plan a summer indoor/outdoor venue such as the TD Centre in Ottawa. It should be a delegated convention that includes on-line voters with the on-site voters at the convention. This would allow people to vote who cannot afford the expense and also allow them to use on-line meeting services to caucus with their fellow electoral district members at the convention.
There should be a strong policy element to the convention as delegates will want to hear of the commitment to their policy priorities by the candidates.
This type of convention should allow people both at the convention and at home watching on television to grill candidates. And give the candidates time to make their positions clear.
The most important change is the need to get away from preferential voting. This system has led to serious mistakes in past leadership contests and made the voting suspect. You need a system that is open and easily understood.
To achieve this, can be as simple as no longer voting by secret ballot. It can be recorded by electoral district or by province but there should never be the need for it to be secret. If some people are not going to take responsibility for their vote, then they probably should not vote.
And the conservatives should also stay away from complicated formulas. All electoral districts are equal but provinces are not. A roll call of 338 electoral districts might be lengthy but a roll call of provincial voting might increase the overall Canadian television audience. And you might be smart to have all your ex officio voters identify with their electoral district.
I think it is high time for Canadian political parties to be open and ensure their objectives and policies are clear to Canadians.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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