Liberal

A Roadmap to Renewal

On behalf of your National Board of Directors, I am pleased to submit “A Roadmap to Renewal” for the review and consideration of all Liberals. It sets out some suggested ‘renewal and rebuilding’ resolutions, inspired and informed by grassroots input, for final consideration at our upcoming Ottawa 2012 – Liberal Biennial Convention (January 13-15).

Our report is intended not only to facilitate further discussion, comment and criticism but also to stimulate alternative ideas, and inspire different and better approaches, all of which are welcomed.   The resolutions we have proposed, if enacted, would result in sweeping constitutional change and radical operational modernization of the Party’s affairs.  We are inviting – indeed, hoping to provoke – the sort of feedback from Liberals everywhere that will make this process truly meaningful.

Today, the Board is posting the discussion piece: “A Roadmap to Renewal” to the Liberal Party of Canada’s website so that all Liberals, and indeed all Canadians, can fully participate in the consultation process.  But this is only the beginning, we want to hear from you:

• Share your comments and ideas by commenting on this blog post below, by joining the discussion on our Member’s Community Page, using #renewal,  or by emailing the National Party Office at Ottawa2012@liberal.ca (prior to December 1, 2011)
•  Consultation teams consisting of elected MPs, Senators and Party officers will hold online and in-person consultations with Liberal Members across Canada between now and December 9, 2011
• Riding Presidents and Provincial and Territorial Executives will be sharing the feedback they collect in their ridings and regions with the National Board during  informal regional consultations, culminating in a formal meeting of the Council of Presidents on December 7, 2011

We believe that any successful renewal and rebuilding process must be staged and orderly, with a clear roadmap that is widely understood and supported by a broad consensus of Liberals. We have identified 6 major phases for the Party’s effort that take us from today to the next federal general election. These 6 major phases are outlined in the discussion paper.

The challenge of achieving profound organizational change is an inherently difficult one, but we believe that Liberals recognize what is at stake and are ready, even eager, for the sort of change that is proposed; reforms for which Members everywhere have advocated.

The decisions we take at the Ottawa 2012 – Liberal Biennial Convention are a critical first step in the rebuilding and renewal of our Party. Make sure you are signed up to participate as a delegate.

We look forward to the feedback of Liberals everywhere.

It is time again for Liberals to dream and plan for a better Canada.

Alfred  Apps

—
UDPATE: “Building a Modern Liberal Party” has been prepared by me as background to the document “A Roadmap to Renewal” published by the National Board of the Liberal Party of Canada (“LPC”). It does not represent an ‘official’ perspective of LPC or the National Board on the matters it addresses but is provided as a personal perspective solely to stimulate discussion and debate among, and input from, LPC members and supporters. Copies of this paper are also available in French.

[Info-graphic] Canada’s national debt : Liberals vs. Conservatives

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I bet they didn’t expect this

They must be kicking themselves now.

When all was said and done, 3,892 Liberals stood on guard for the character of Canada’s politics, donating $225,433 toward a strong, principled response to the attack ads against us.

These are critical times – and because of what happened this week, Liberals can now take a powerful message to the Canadian people about how the Liberal Party can be their advocate for positive Canadian change, far and wide.

Tomorrow, Stephen Harper will introduce a budget that will take Canada further off track. And as he carves up our national identity as a country of people who look out for one another, make no mistake.

With their savings, jobs and security at stake, Canadians will look to Liberals for leadership, and to advocate on their behalf.

Because only we bring the experience of government, responsible deficit reduction, and the kind of economic planning that saved Canada from the brunt of this most recent global economic crisis.

Meanwhile, Conservatives have piled on our national debt, year after year.

So between now and when we watch the budget come down Thursday, let’s remind Canadians that Tory times are tough times for Canadian families.

Please click here to share this info-graphic on Facebook and Twitter.

Canada’s National Debt

 

Thank you.

Bob Rae

It’s time to decide

With just 12 hours left on the clock, and $53,613 needed to reach our $200,000 goal – it’s time to decide if you will stand up to the Republican-style attacks that are cheapening Canada’s politics.

2,667 Liberals – more than half first-time donors – have already made their choice, and they’re hoping you, too, will stand with them against these poisonous politics.

They know the headlines about attack ads and election fraud are turning off young Canadians. Making young progressives feel like voting is a waste of time. And teaching young Conservatives that you can do and say anything if it puts you closer to victory.

We started this fundraising campaign thinking we were just raising money to launch an ad to respond to the attacks. But in the groundswell that followed we realized that so much more is at stake.

Canada doesn’t need another attack ad. Liberals don’t just need to swing back at the bully to feel better.

We need to offer Canadians a choice. A positive, inspiring, lasting message about the country we can build together, with hope, and the belief we can always find the best in ourselves.

In the thousands of Tweets, Facebook posts, emails, notes on donations and conversations we’ve had since news broke that Conservatives had launched an attack ad against Bob Rae last week, that was your message to us.

The hallmarks of our nation – the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, universal health care, bilingualism and multiculturalism, national unity, fiscal responsibility, peacekeeping… the list goes on – these are Liberal achievements. Neither the Conservatives or the NDP can even compare.

So you may see an ad that takes on Stephen Harper – on his record, built on facts and figures – launched at an opportune moment. But more likely, you’ll see ads, released over time, that tell the story of what Liberals believe in and want to work with Canadians to build.

And you’ll know that those ads were brought to the Canadian people by Liberal supporters like you. And that Canada’s politics are better for it.

Please click here to make your secure $4 donation – just $1 after the tax credit.

Or, if you prefer, call 1-800-701-7789 (9am – 5pm, ET) to donate by phone.

Thank you.

Justin Trudeau

With 72 hours left – a new goal

They thought it would divide us. Instead it made us stronger – and you can still be a part of it.

Since Liberal Leader Bob Rae wrote to Liberal supporters Wednesday evening in response to the latest anti-Liberal Conservative TV attack ad, something incredible has happened.

A grassroots surge of donations – over half from first-time donors – has propelled us to within striking distance of our $100,000 goal a full two days before the midnight, Monday, March 26 deadline.

All in, some 1733 Liberals pitching in $92,331, have answered the call to take a message about Stephen Harper’s failure on the economy directly to Canadians. And it keeps coming in.

In fact, because of this outpouring we have decided to double our goal to $200,000, so that we can respond more aggressively now and in the future. But we can’t make it without you.

Please click here to make a secure $5 donation – just $1.25 after your tax credit – using our pre-filled form.

“The bullying and the thuggishness need to stop,” Rae wrote Wednesday. Apparently those words reflect what many Canadians are feeling privately.

Enough with the smear campaigns. Enough with the voter suppression and election fraud. Stop poisoning Canada’s political culture with Republican-style slash-and-burn attack politics.

If what it takes to knock the bully down is a taste of his own medicine, so be it.

And then maybe, hopefully, we can turn the conversation coming out of Ottawa back to the one Canadians want to have. About jobs. And improving our economy. About cutting the deficit and building a Canada that reflects our values. That’s a Liberal Canada.

Please pitch in what you can – and join the 1733 Liberals standing shoulder-to-shoulder ready to build it.

Thank you.

Mike Crawley

President, Liberal Party of Canada

We knew this was coming

It’s what we knew and what we expected.

Like any schoolyard bully, Stephen Harper’s answer to weeks of bad press from the election fraud scandal is not to admit responsibility and deal with it, but instead produce an attack ad against the Interim Leader of the Liberal Party, yours truly.

Sound familiar so far?

If that makes you mad – and it should — here’s how you can help.

Let’s start by understanding that this is not about me or what happened, or didn’t happen, in Ontario twenty-two years ago.

I was Premier during a bad recession in Ontario that much is true. The rest, not so much. But we’re not going to blow our budget debating the last century.

The bullying and the thuggishness need to stop.

We need to talk directly to Canadians about Harper’s failure on the economy, about an election fraud scandal that has shaken Canada’s faith in its democracy. And yes, about a Prime Minister who has cheapened and tarnished Canadian politics.

That means rallying together as Liberals to show Conservatives that whenever they take aim at us, they make us stronger. That an attack on any one of us, is an attack on us all.

That’s why I’m calling on all Liberals to help us raise at least $100,000 before midnight, Monday, March 26.

Enough to begin telling Canadians the story of how Harper turned a $13-billion Liberal surplus into the biggest deficit in Canadian history, and how he’s trying to turn Canada into a cheap imitation of the Republican primaries in the United States.

With thousands of Liberals each chipping in their part, we can make it happen, starting with you.

Please click here to make a secure $5 donation – just $1.25 after your tax credit – using our pre-filled form.

Or, if you prefer, call 1-800-701-7789 (9am – 5pm, ET) to donate by phone.

Thank you.

Bob Rae

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