This is MPP Glen Murray’s plan. It arrived among our e-mail today. Glen is the Ontario Liberal leadership candidate from downtown Toronto. While he only has a couple years under his belt at Queen’s Park and came here from Winnipeg, his approach to reforming the Liberal Party in Ontario is bang on.
This puts Murray at the head of the list for party reform. We suspect that leadership hopeful Gerard Kennedy agrees with this approach but he has yet to articulate that message. At the same time, it appears that the other former MPP candidate Sandra Pupatella is not listening. We received an e-mail from her the other day saying that Liberals are telling her the issues are jobs and the economy. That seems to suit her right-wing approach.
Talking to MPP Charles Sousa along with some other Babel Liberals yesterday, he assured us of his support for party reform but he obviously needs to do some broader research on the subject. Meanwhile MPPs Kathleen Wynne, Harinder Takhar and Eric Hoskins have so far been missing on the subject.
What is most commendable about the Murray plan for reform of the party is that he establishes the concern and then provides a process and timetable for correcting the problems. He believes that people want to reconnect with the party. He recognizes that it is their party as much as his or any other member. This is something that young Justin Trudeau in that other race has yet to realize.
Murray believes that we can put most of the basic reforms before the provincial party at its annual meeting in the fall of 2013. There will have to a lot of brainstorming and some tough negotiations before then but we can come up with a modern Liberal Party in this province. He believes that members have to lead the way in deciding on leadership, candidate nominations, policy direction and means for more affordable participation in party events.
Murray wants a Liberal Party where it is easy for members to discuss their ideas, that listens and acts on the better ideas and makes sure that people can always participate. In such a broadly based, multi-generational party, the party would have to be much more than a social media site on the Internet.
Murray makes a strong point in asking members of the party to consider alternatives to the current system of nominating candidates in vacant ridings. He seems to disagree with the current practice of having the leader choose a candidate without a riding nomination meeting. Potential delegates across Ontario should be hammering leadership candidates on this issue alone.
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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