By Pepper Parr
September 5th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Provincial Liberal Association will meet on September 10th and hear leadership candidate Adil Shamji from 3:00 – 5:00PM at the , Haber Community Centre, community room 2, 3040 Tim Dobbie Drive, Burlington
All five leadership candidates will have addressed the Burlington Liberals.
The provincial Liberal party has an open membership policy. Anyone over the age of 14 can become a member of the Association; there is no membership fee.
Once they have become a member they can take part in the vote to determine who the next leader of the Liberal Party in Ontario will be.
That vote will take place late in November. During October and November there will debates at different location across the province between the five candidates.
Registering to vote in the leadership vote closes at 6 pm on September 11th. The link to register to vote is HERE
With the current differences over the property taken out of the Greenbelt by the Ford government – determining who the Premier of the province will be after the 2026 election takes place is will be a fierce battle. While the Minister of Housing has resigned – the Premier is still in office.
Liberals are surely thinking of how to get the leader they select in November of this year into the provincial legislature. Being elected by the party is as leader does not get one a seat at Queen’s Park. The leader has to win a seat in the Legislature.
Nate Erskine-Smith – MP for Beaches in Toronto wants to be the MPP instead. If selected he will have to find a constituency to run in.
Bonnie Crombie: Has been crisscrossing the province at a hectic pace. She was seen as the favourite at first – now she has a fight on her hands.
Frequently, a political party will have one of its elected members resign – which means a by-election has to take place. The selected leader would run in the now open riding and be in the Legislature to go toe to toe with the Premier on a daily basis.
Great political theatre.
There are two candidates for the leadership of the Liberal Party in Ontario who appear to be leading the race.
One might ask – which sitting member would they approach to resign? There would be no promises of course, but an understanding, perhaps, that the member who resigned would be brought into cabinet in 2026 should the new leader become Premier.
There just might be an enterprising Liberal who would see this as a quick way into Cabinet.
The problem is that there aren’t all that many Liberals sitting in the Legislature. There are a couple that deserve a close look.
Sorry, but why should a sitting Liberal member who is elected by his/her constituents and works hard to represent their interests give up their seat so that the winning leadership candidate who, likely, has no connection to the riding, can sit in the Legislature? Pity the poor constituents! Given the way Doug Ford’s government is self-imploding the election will likely come sooner than later so maybe there’s value in waiting.
Equally bizarre is an open membership policy. A core concept of membership is an affirmation of belief in the principles of the organization you are joining. Another sterling example of taking inclusion to a ridiculous level. If you join another political party you sign a card attesting to the principles of the party, and pay a membership fee to confirm this. If you join a union you sign a membership card asserting your commitment to the ideals, and pay a nominal fee. Even if you join COSTCO you get your picture taken, pay an annual fee and have a membership card.
I guess if you join the Liberal Party anything goes. That alone speaks volumes…
Absolutely agree with Stephen and Ted.
Quick entry into Cabinet? Belly laugh, eye roll……first step would be to elect more members than can fill a minivan.