Oh, the shame of it. My last contribution to the Liberal Party of Canada was June 16, 2016. And the party has asked me if this is a mistake? Hopefully nobody has told Justin. He would be so disappointed with me.
Luckily, I expect that only the computer knows that I made my last contribution to the party the month after its meeting in Winnipeg that canceled all memberships to the party. I had been faithfully making the same contribution every month but my membership was canceled. We were all supposed to be happy liberal supporters. I disagreed and canceled my payments.
That was a bold move for the guy who did the first fund-raising effort among the party faithful in the 1960s. I remember having 70,000 letters sitting on the boardroom table at the party’s Toronto office ready for mailing in Ontario. The party treasurer stopped in and looked at the huge stacks. He clucked, shook his head and said, “This is not going to work, Peter.” were his kind words.
The truth is my letter did not get much money but it was a start. The party had to become more self-supporting or always be beholden to its corporate benefactors.
Of course, the Internet helped. The ability to beg and plead with hundreds of thousands of people for peanut prices was first realized by the federal conservatives. And their members seem to have more money than liberal supporters. The conservatives either write better begging letters or have richer retainers. Luckily, it does not necessarily translate to votes.
But today’s liberal supporters are no slouches. They seem to respond to the pitiful pleas of the liberal party. They always tell you that a few more loonies from everyone will make all the difference.
I remember one time the president of the party and I were setting up chairs for a meeting. (Somebody has to do it!) We sat down to rest for a minute and he admitted to me that it would be easier for him to just send money but it is getting more and more people involved that helps us get out our vote during elections. I wish he had told Justin Trudeau about that involvement.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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