Rebuilding the Liberal party

Steve Pinkus, Désirée Mcgraw and Rachel Bendayan, National Post, May 21, 2011

Getting involved:

Founders

Carolina Gallo La Flèche,
Westmount-Ville-Marie
Brett House,
Niagara West-Glanbrook
Kent Hovey-Smith,
Trinity-Spadina
Désirée McGraw,
Notre-Dame-De-Grâce-Lachine
Matthew Ramsden,
Ottawa Centre
Robert Valdmanis,
Westmount-Ville-Marie

Questionnaire for Liberal Party of Canada National Executive Candidates

Alfred Apps, President

People. What concrete steps will you take as a member of the Party Executive to increase the inclusiveness of the Party and expand the diversity of its membership?

I am focused on ensuring that an ongoing, grassroots, community-based, membership campaign in each riding to increase our membership to over 300,000 by July 1, 2011. Working with the women's, aboriginal and youth commissions, I want to ensure that we also target our campaign to the consituencies and organizations where we need to build disproportionate growth in order to secure our future. This nationally coordinated effort has to be properly resourced and, most importantly, coupled with a strategy to increase the level of policy participation, fundraising and organizational training from coast to coast.

Policy. What specific actions, policies and initiatives will you undertake or advocate as part of a concerted effort to ensure that the Party presents a strategic and compelling platform to the Canadian electorate that responds to Canada's most pressing needs?

I intend to work with the Policy Chair and the National Executive to entirely revamp our policy process so that we can ensure more meaningful input into the platform development process that will include not only more riding and regional policy sessions that include participation by subject experts, but also town hall and survey format approaches to soliciting broader grassroots opinion. We need a mix on online and in-person formats for policy debate and prioritization.

Party. What tangible priority efforts will you launch to increase the participation of Party members in every level of the Party's decisions, operations and structures to increase accountability and the democratic link between the central Party and the riding organizations?

I intend to:
(1) significantly strengthen the role of the Council of Presidents;
(2) introduce detailed quarterly and annual reporting to all members;
(3) use more survey and feedback mechanisms to canvas grassroots and riding opinion; and
(4) assert the proper staff oversight and governance function of the National Executive

Candidate responses to questionnaire