Meet Me In Montreal
The LPC has just announced the rules for the leadership convention:
1. The convention will be the December 2nd weekend. I'm really disappointed in what I consider to be a short sighted decision. Stephen Harper's government is not going to fall within the next year. A long race would give the party a chance to debate policy and select the best possible leader to lead us for the next decade. It would also bring many new members and ideas into the party. Instead, we're going to have a mad dash three month leadership based on name recognition and first impressions, rather than substance and policy.
2. The delegate meetings will be held the weekend of September 29th. That means the membership cut-off will be July 1st.
3. Dominic LeBlanc and Tanya Capple will be the convention co-chairs. I guess he's off the list.
4. The entry fee will be $50,000. That seems fair enough and very reasonable.
5. The convention will be in Montreal. Good choice.
6. The spending limit will be 3.4 million dollars and will supposedly include pre-race spending. Eizenga said the loopholes have been closed (somewhere Belinda shouts "merde!"). If true, that's definitely a good sign but I still strongly suspect there will be a couple extra interns at Magna this summer.
7. 20% of money raised after the first $500,000 will be given to the party.
8. On-line memberships will be available "in due course".
9. 53 campus clubs have been sanctioned to send delegates.
All in all, the rules seem a lot more fair than last time and should ensure a wide open race with lots of candidates. I would have prefered a longer race, but the financial rules are right where they should be.
1. The convention will be the December 2nd weekend. I'm really disappointed in what I consider to be a short sighted decision. Stephen Harper's government is not going to fall within the next year. A long race would give the party a chance to debate policy and select the best possible leader to lead us for the next decade. It would also bring many new members and ideas into the party. Instead, we're going to have a mad dash three month leadership based on name recognition and first impressions, rather than substance and policy.
2. The delegate meetings will be held the weekend of September 29th. That means the membership cut-off will be July 1st.
3. Dominic LeBlanc and Tanya Capple will be the convention co-chairs. I guess he's off the list.
4. The entry fee will be $50,000. That seems fair enough and very reasonable.
5. The convention will be in Montreal. Good choice.
6. The spending limit will be 3.4 million dollars and will supposedly include pre-race spending. Eizenga said the loopholes have been closed (somewhere Belinda shouts "merde!"). If true, that's definitely a good sign but I still strongly suspect there will be a couple extra interns at Magna this summer.
7. 20% of money raised after the first $500,000 will be given to the party.
8. On-line memberships will be available "in due course".
9. 53 campus clubs have been sanctioned to send delegates.
All in all, the rules seem a lot more fair than last time and should ensure a wide open race with lots of candidates. I would have prefered a longer race, but the financial rules are right where they should be.
posted by calgarygrit at
3:11 p.m.
21 Comments:
CG:
SFU has three campuses; that's why it has three clubs. The Young Liberal Bylaws allow a university to have more than one club as long as each one is at a separate campus a certain distance from the others.
And december is still a good choise; the leadership campaign won't be over just because the memebership signup cutoff will have passed. That's 5 months minimum of talking about policy and ideas rather than signing up more members. (which I'm will sure there'll be lots of by July 1)
By
Bruce Lyth, at 3:44 p.m.
Bart,
Day 1. Looks fair if you have your act together (know French; know how to raise money) and a team (or people willing to help you with 1 email or phone call) around you. Expect less than 8 candidates in December (expect a few drop offs after July 1).
Keep up the excellent work and looking forward to meeting you.
By
Anonymous, at 3:58 p.m.
December is ok, but I would have rather seen it in November. The simple fact is the party needs a new face, we have to have someone out there countering the nonsense Harper is spewing.
The solution is not to have several voices doing it for as long as possible, but one unified voice doing it much louder and much more effectively.
By
Anonymous, at 3:58 p.m.
Are Pizza's a donation in kind Mr. Grit?? I have a friend who is a big Volpe supporter who would like to know.
THanks
By
Anonymous, at 4:06 p.m.
I doubt Belinda can pronounce "merde".
"En anglais, s'il-vous-plaît" seems to be the French sentence she's most comfortable with.
By
Anonymous, at 4:32 p.m.
I am waiting to find out how much it's going to cost to attend the convention. It won't be cheap.
By
Anonymous, at 5:03 p.m.
Membership cut off for July 1st??? DOes anybody else think this is crazy?
For university clubs this is the worst time of year. We have exams, essays and finals to write. Then we are off for the summer. There will be no time for campus clubs to organize anything before July 1st to attract new voters.
If the convention would have been held in March, and the cut offs been held in October... you would have seen a huge rise in memberships as the beginning of the year is the BEST time for students to get motivated and join clubs.
Big mistake.. I am sad they chose a quick fix rather than a long substantial change in the party.
By
Forward Looking Canadian, at 5:54 p.m.
Mr. Grit, why did you delete one of my posts. I had a number of pertinent questions Mr. Grit that I was hoping that you would answer, biographical information. Like where did you grow up Mr. Grit? How long have you been a liberal Mr. Grit? What are your favourite sports Mr. Grit? Who is your favourite Liberal Mr Grit? If you could not vote for the Liberals, who would you vote for Mr. Grit? What do you do for a living Mr. Grit?
Mr. Grit, if you could answer these questions that would be great. You have many many fans Mr. Grit.
By
Anonymous, at 7:47 p.m.
BC lost 60 delegates because the president screwed up the campus club documents
By
Anonymous, at 8:08 p.m.
10. Due to the party's financial difficulties, entitlements will only be handed out to the first 1,000 conventioneers to arrive.
By
Robert McClelland, at 8:11 p.m.
John Godfrey is on Goldhawk Live on CPAC and has just declared for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
By
O'Dowd, at 8:19 p.m.
I've already made a rather long post on my own blog about today's announcement, so I'll be rather brief: the perception that Liberals will be electing anything more than the next Leader of the Official Opposition (see Eizinga's statement that they're electing the next Prime Minister) is based on little else but lingering hubris. Parliament hasn't even sat for a single day yet, it is much, MUCH too early for the Liberals to proclaiming a Phoenix-like rising to reclaim 24 Sussex and the Government benches. Stick to the reality of the current situation and leave the rhetoric for the convention floor after developing a legitimate strategy for defeating the Conservatives.
By
RGM, at 9:49 p.m.
Just wondering... where does the July 1 date come from, CG?
I see a 90 day requirement from the "voting" day. If voting day is the convention, that's the end of August, not the start of July.
I mean, you're probably right, but I don't have a reference.
By
Gauntlet, at 10:34 p.m.
btw calgarygrit...
I just received word that Ralph Goodale is definitely putting his name in. It looks like he will probably the only candidate from the West...maybe you should do a bio on him
By
Anonymous, at 10:55 p.m.
Gauntlet,
Voting (delegate selection) day is the weekend of Sept 29 (90 days after July 1).
By
Anonymous, at 11:51 p.m.
Aw damn it, where the hell am I gonna get $50,000? There's my plans out the window. :(
By
Ryan Ringer, at 4:47 a.m.
With the race this wide open, and the great number of potential candidates, this should prove very interesting.
By September the candidates should split into two groups, those running for leader and those running for kingmaker.
http://centreofcanada.blogspot.com/
By
Don, at 8:55 a.m.
Someone help me understand the value of and what happens during the time period between Sept.29 and Dec.2. Is this much time needed for registration and accomodation/travel planning? Seems to me that at least a month of that time would be more useful for signing new members or at least for communicating with members before the delegate selection. Is it correct that delegates elected on Sept.29 will be locked in for first ballot?
Thanks
By
Anonymous, at 11:23 a.m.
I suspect delegates will be locked in to their candidate for the first ballot.
But if you only drop the lowest total after the first ballot, you could still have 10 candidates in a free for all to get delegates come the second ballot.
So, I imagine, the two months between DSMs and the convention will be used to woo delegates.
By
calgarygrit, at 1:28 p.m.
Your suggestion is the only realistic card they have to play. The scan for leadership has come up empty.
If Bill, [giant skeleton in closet],Graham dares to interupt house business for selfish partisan interest, he will incur Canadian wrath like never before.
Graham should be retired to a diplomatic post. An ambassadorship, wait for it.. Ambassador to the igloo embassy of Hans Island.
10words TG
By
TonyGuitar, at 2:13 p.m.
This will not have effect in fact, that's exactly what I suppose.
By
muebles rivas vaciamadrid, at 4:01 a.m.
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