Testify, Brother Borys!

 Some progessive bloggers has bemoaned the lack of youth, vigour and new ideas in the LPoC.  The new candidates for leadership within the party seem too much like the old ones, if not identical to the old ones.

Well' Borys Wrzesnewskyj seems willing to tear things up from root to branch.  Will we start hearing cries of "too radical", "too left"?  Well, remember, half the federally party's vote just went NDP, and the most recent polls show that it isn't coming back.  Remember too that all the issues that were supposed to render the NDP toxic to the middle--"Taliban" Jack, the accusations of anti-semitism over their stance re Israel/Palestine.... 

Look at those polls again.  None of that's harmed them at all.

On Future Liberal Leadership Races

From the "Report of the Special Committee on Party Renewal":

In conclusion, the committee believes that the most democratic and effective manner of selecting a leader is through a weighted one-member, one-vote, preferential ballot system. It is an essential part of a 308-riding strategy, where we say to every Liberal member that their vote counts, regardless of where they live.

I remember having a good conversation with Jeff Jedras and others on this topic not too long ago. I asked: why not a straight, one member one-vote non-weighted ballot? And he responded that, if the Libs chose such an alternative, their leadership candidates would never go outside of T.O.

And then someone else said (maybe this guy) something like "yeah but how do I sell memberships in Ontario if I have to tell people they are essentially getting a watered-down vote?"

Recommendations like the above are an attempt to steer a path through these kinds of considerations.

In any case, one purpose of these reforms ought to be getting rid of these expensive anachronisms known as delegated conventions, or at least giving those who don't have the funds can't be bothered to attend a say in charting the direction of their party. I am assuming the above recommendation would help in this process.