Biennial is coming....

The Liberal Party of Canada is choosing a new national executive at the Biennial convention in Ottawa in January. The people in the party have a lot of choices to make in terms of party renewel. I think there are some people that warrant specific endorsements as to why they should be elected in their positions. This is not a full list of my endorsements and ther will be more to come.

Presidental Endorsement
First off, lets start with the Presidency, the incoming LPC president basically has 2 years to change the party before the new leadership team comes in, and from there things get a little cloudy. Only one candidate has struck me as someone that truly represents a clear vision of the future for the Liberal Party, and that is Mike Crawley. While other candidates have talked about bringing people back from the past, Mike has talked about the future and his bold new red vision really has resonated with me. I found that Mike understands the role of party president and is running as someone running for a table officer spot, rather then a politician as Sheila Copps has appeared. When I was at LPCO exec board in Niagara Falls, I felt that out of all the candidates, Mike got it, I mean that he understood how grassroots Liberals feel, and how to change the party and work within its structure as president. I feel he is the best hope to really change things for the better.

National Policy Chair
In a crowded field, the National Policy chair has a very important job in moderating the policy process of the Party for the next 2 year cycle. Though this is a crowded field with 2 passionate young liberals running for the position I feel that Maryanne Kampouris is by far the most qualified of the candidates and would do the best job as a national policy chair. Maryanne knows the party policy process inside and out, especially in her role as LPCO policy chair. She has been fair in her role, and hasn't put any special interest above others in her Ontario role. I believe that her experience and knowledge of the internal policy system would be very advantageous in a period of rebuilding and she would be a fair policy chair that would help the party and its grassroots find its vision for the future.

National Membership Secretary

The National Membership Secretary is a very hotly contested position for 2012. There are a couple of qualified candidates but I feel that Kyle Harrietha is the best candidate for the job. I've worked with Kyle in the past, and feel his experience of being an Alberta Liberal, with ties to Ontario give him a great perspective on the breadth of membership issues the party has as a whole, and I feel that he would do a great job as the National Membership Secretary of the Liberal Party.

I will have more endorsements to come, but this is my first post in a series of 2 regarding people who I am supporting for the Convention in Ottawa in January.