The seven liberal MPPs remaining at Queen’s Park are going to carry a lot of weight in deciding the when and how of the convention to replace Kathleen Wynne as leader of the party. Not only are there possible candidates among them but they will also want to ensure that the process passes the smell test.
The last convention, that chose Wynne, did not. It has to be the last time the old guard will have had control. It has to be the last time the old guard was allowed to make the decision.
And at a time when it is very easy to give the entire membership a vote, it is hard to argue ‘why not.’ We have the membership lists. We can provide members with unique codes for access and we can have live voting across the province. We can also stop people from paying the memberships fees for large blocks of voters. We can have a real ‘One member: one vote’ leadership race.
But the one thing that the new leader must make clear is that a political party in a democracy has to be democratic itself. The party must choose its candidates in the electoral districts without interference from the leader or the central party organization.
The party members must have a full and public say in the policy direction of the party. Party platforms have to be developed in the open. No more surprise announcements by the party leader from somewhere in left or right field.
A political party is not a local service club. It is a cause. It has to be something that people can believe in. Party policy is something that party members need to discuss and get involved in developing. Training members to knock on doors during elections and getting out the vote is a critical part of getting your party’s views and programs understood and supported by the public.
You do not have a real democracy until you put some work into it.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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