The federal Liberal Party is calling itself a movement after members voted to open its leadership selection to supporters, affirmed a laundry list of progressive policy resolutions, and elected a reformer as party president at their biennial convention, but some critics and observers are dismissing the party as desperate and out of touch.

More than 3,200 Liberal delegates voted on 26 amendments to their party’s constitution during the convention, with the decision to allow supporters to participate in the next leadership convention garnering the most attention.

Individuals who pledge their support to the party, are at least 18 years of age, and are not a member of another political party will be eligible to vote for the next Liberal leader, but membership rejected a proposal to carry out the leadership vote regionally over a number of days, similar to the primary process used for selecting presidential nominees in the U.S.

Membership also approved a number of resolutions to make the party’s executive more accountable to riding and provincial/territorial associations by requiring that the executive table a strategic plan and annual report to the council of riding presidents, establish the council of presidents’ chair as a member of the national board of directors, and give provincial and territorial associations the final say in placing inactive riding associations under the trusteeship of the party.

“I think the most important resolutions that have been passed are the most important issues for the party with respect to policy and the question of the structure of the party. I think that’s the most significant issue,” said interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae (Toronto Centre, Ont.) to reporters at the end of the biennial convention on Jan. 15. “I think the fact that we opened up the party and we transformed the party, there is no comparison with either the NDP or the Conservatives. We are saying we think the choice of the next leader should be up to all Canadians who are sympathetic and supportive of the Liberal Party to join with us in choosing the next leader and in making a difference for the country. I also think that the most significant internal changes have to do with the policy process.”  

“Potentially, there’s been a rebalancing of power within the party—a little less leader-centric, a little more focused on the members themselves,” said former leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy, who lost his seat in the Toronto riding of Parkdale-High Park in the last election. “They’re taking responsibility, and they’re also expecting more from their representatives on the executive, and that’s healthy for us.”

Mr. Kennedy is rumoured as a potential leadership candidate when the party selects its permanent leader in the spring of 2013.

“The party hasn’t been as good at serving Canada and Canadians as it should be,” Mr. Kennedy told The Hill Times following the announcement of the party’s executive on the final day of the convention. “I’ve got a lot of ideas on that within in my riding, and there are some national initiatives I also hope to be a part of.”

It remains unclear whether or not anyone aspiring for party leadership would have to run against Mr. Rae, who ended the convention with a passionate speech rallying members to “go forth and multiply.”

“We had, I think, a great victory yesterday when we welcomed supporters to our party,” declared Mr. Rae, who praised the convention for accomplishing change within the party. “You can be the ones to remake this party, all Canadians are there, all Canadians are with us. There are no walls or barriers.… We recognize that our party is not a private club, our party is part of the Liberal movement.”

Young Liberals of Canada President Samuel Lavoie, who was elected to a second term at the convention, also praised his party’s decision to open the leadership selection process to supporters.

“The Liberal Party has been seen as the party of backroom deals—a private club,” Mr. Lavoie said last week. “For us to throw open the doors and say that anyone wanting to participate in our leadership process is welcome sends a clear signal that we are building a 21st century party.”

But for all the talk of a more inclusive, grassroots party, equally telling were the constitutional amendments that didn’t pass.

Members rejected amendments that would remove the leader’s veto over the policy platform; create a one-member-one-vote system for the election of the executive and the approval of policy resolutions; limit the leader’s ability to personally select candidates for ridings; and mandate the leader to include at least three priority policy resolutions in the next platform.

NDP MP Guy Caron (Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques, Que.), who attended the final day of the convention as an observer, said he was skeptical that the Liberals had accomplished any change in the values or the workings of their party.

“From a Liberal perspective, they really want to boast about it, saying they’re going where no party has gone before,” Mr. Caron observed. “The defeat of the motion to limit the right of the leader to overturn any policy decision made by the convention basically means the all of the policy resolutions could be debated for absolutely nothing, depending on the will of one person.”

Members also voted down an amendment to allow supporters to vote in riding associations’ candidate selection process—a sign, said conservative blogger Stephen Taylor, that the party remains wary of being sabotaged by outsiders.

“It’s probably wise because the riding level can be prone to hijack,” noted Mr. Taylor, who is director of the National Citizens Coalition lobby group, which launched an online attack ad against Mr. Rae last week. “Nationally, moving towards a supporter system is an interesting idea for mixing things up, but I think it’s the move of a party that is trying anything to expand its base in a very fast way.”

However, former Canadian Alliance and Conservative strategist Jim Armour, who serves as Summa Strategies VP of public affairs in Ottawa, said concerns that outsiders would hijack the party through the supporter system were overstated. 

“I don’t know whether the difference between free and $10 is all that great. If you wanted to take over a political party you can do it either way,” said Mr. Armour.

Delegates voted in favour of 29 of 30 policy resolutions at the convention, including proposals to create national housing and water strategies, implement preferential balloting in federal elections, and develop high-speed rail in the Windsor-Québec City corridor. The only resolution that didn’t pass was a proposal by the Young Liberals of Canada for the country to break ties with the British monarchy. All of these proposals were overshadowed by the membership voting 77 per cent in favour of making the legalization of marijuana a part of the party’s election platform.

Despite the strong mandate from membership for the party to run on a commitment to legalize marijuana, the fact that party leadership can still veto policy makes the resolution anything but certain. Mr. Rae opposed the resolution prior to the vote, and did not give a definitive answer on the matter following during a post-convention scrum.

“It’s up to us to take that resolution and see what it will mean in terms of policy because there are practical questions we have to look at,” Mr. Rae told media.

Liberal MP Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) also wavered in his support for the resolution when speaking with The Hill Times last week. Mr. Trudeau expressed concern that the resolution could be bad for health and trade policy.

“My own issue is that we’re trying to encourage people to drink less and smoke less tobacco. To legalize something else that we know is perhaps not as harmful but not necessarily healthy could be a step in the wrong direction, but I do believe in free choice,” said Mr. Trudeau, who has long been speculated as a future leader of the Liberal Party, but has ruled out a leadership bid in 2013.

“We have to be very careful about how we present it with the United States so that it doesn’t end up putting up an extremely thick wall between Canada and our largest trading partner,” Mr. Trudeau added.

Bridging the political reality faced by Liberal MPs with the membership’s desire for progressive policies and greater involvement falls to Mike Crawley, a former president of the federal party’s Ontario wing.

Mr. Crawley, who defeated establishment candidate Sheila Copps for party presidency by 26 votes after three recounts on Jan. 15, ran on a platform to empower membership and riding associations, end the executive selection of riding candidates, and change the culture of the party from one that takes its members for granted to one that listens to its membership.

An advocate of big idea policies, Mr. Crawley was heavily supported by the party’s youth wing, and has also emphasized the need for the party to engage in a permanent campaign against the Conservatives and NDP between elections.

“After this weekend, it’s clear that we are focused on the future of this party,” said Mr. Crawley in a conciliatory victory speech at the convention’s end. “A party that is constantly actively engaging with its members, a party without walls in which ideas and people flow in freely and flow out.”

“Don’t get used to seeing me around, there is a lot of work that has to be done within the party,” Mr. Crawley told media following the convention’s close. “My role is to create a new party which is open to new ideas, engages its members, and has more cohesion.”

Liberal Party communications director Sarah Bain informed The Hill Times that Mr. Crawley would not be doing interviews in the week following the convention.

The uncertainty of how the party will determine its next leader remains a looming challenge for Mr. Crawley. If Mr. Rae reneges on a pledge to refrain from seeking the permanent leadership it will fall to the new president to ensure a level playing field for other candidates. If Mr. Rae decides not to run, Mr. Crawley will need to keep the party from breaking in to new factions.

“Mike Crawley needs to unite the party and end the internal divisions,” said former Liberal MP Bonnie Crombie, who described Mr. Crawley as “dynamic” and “exciting” for the party. “There is only one Liberal membership and it needs to be to the party, not to the leader. Crawley will have to navigate the leadership contest and ensure the party remains strong and united.”

Carleton University Political Scientist Bill Cross, whose latest book, Politics at the Centre, examines leadership succession in Westminster governments, was more realistic in his assessment of the position that Mr. Crawley has inherited.

“So much of it depends on what Mr. Rae decides to do,” Prof. Cross observed. “If Bob Rae announces he’s not going to run for leadership, then Mike Crawley is probably really important, but if Rae announces that he’s planning to run for the permanent leadership Crawley will have as much influence as Rae gives him. It’s the leader who has the power. The bureaucratic party will have as much power as the leader allows it, unless the leader is weak.”

According to recent polls by Forum Research and EKOS, Mr. Rae’s approval rating at between 77 and 78 per cent amongst Liberal supporters, while the Forum poll put Mr. Rae’s approval rating two points ahead of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) at 39 per cent going into the convention.

Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro (Peterborough, Ont.), who serves as parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.), panned the Liberals for focusing on internal matters and policy gimmicks following the convention.

“The resolution on marijuana is irresponsible and demonstrates how out of touch they are with mainstream voters,” Mr. Del Mastro wrote in an email to The Hill Times. “Can they be anymore out of touch? Jobs and the economy are what people are focused on, not legalized drugs and a debate over the monarchy!”

Mr. Caron also criticized the Liberals for their lack of focus on economic issues at what was billed as a policy convention, and said the policies they did adopt were an attempt to attract voters from his own party.

“They always tend to adopt more progressive, more NDP-like policies when they’re in the opposition, but it’s a different game when they’re in government.”

Author Peter C. Newman, whose latest book, When The Gods Changed: The Death of Liberal Canada, has haunted Liberals with its prediction of the party’s demise since it was released last fall, backed away from Ms. Crombie’s declaration that convention-goers had made him a believer in reincarnation.

Mr. Newman said that while the turnout for the convention was impressive, a collective attitude change was not enough to turn the party around.

“They have 34 MPs scattered across the country, hanging there like lost astronauts. There’s nowhere to feel safe anymore,” said the prolific author.

Mr. Newman also criticized the party for focusing on its policies rather than defining its values.

“Policies change with country’s problems. By the next election we don’t know what the main thrust of their policies should be,” observed Mr. Newman. “Values you can defend and they don’t change.”

cplecash@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times