Support our Youth

Because strong youth influence makes a stronger party.

Support the YLC Amendment to One-Member One-Vote
(la vidéo en français arrive bientôt)

The YLC and "One-Member One-Vote" - NEWS

Yesterday the National Executive of the Young Liberals of Canada unanimously passed an amendment proposal to the One-Member One-Vote proposal initiated by the LPC National Executive.

Passed at convention, this amendment would ensure the proposed "One-Member One-Vote" leadership-selection method would continue a decades-long legacy of a strong Youth Commission within the Liberal Party of Canada.


Of each riding's 100 points in the new OMOV system, a minimum of 25 points would be dedicated to the votes of members aged 25 and below. In ridings where youth constitute more than 25% of the votes cast, the points will be allocated without distinction for youth to ensure full representation.


It should be noted that at the 2006 Convention this amendment passed on the convention floor, while OMOV as a whole fell short of the two-thirds support it required.


At this convention, the YLC OMOV amendment will only need 50%+1 support to pass, while the OMOV proposal as a whole will require a two-thirds majority.


It was tremendous to see such strong unity on the YLC that this amendment is necessary! Reform is critical in this party, especially when it comes our method of leadership selection, but let's not destroy the underpinning foundations of the Youth Commission, one of our party's strongest assets, as we go about achieving that reform.


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In my opinion - If the YLC OMOV amendment passes again this year, and OMOV passes as well, the Liberal Party of Canada will have achieved a broader system of leadership selection that is wildly more democratic, eliminates the cost barriers that prevent so many youth from going to a leadership convention, and still protects the strong voice for youth that the Liberal Party always made a proud part of it's heritage.

And even if you don't support OMOV, I hope you'll realize that this amendment deserves your support so that if OMOV does pass (and I hope it does) we do not lose ALL of the YLC's historic representation in the Liberal's leadership selection.

Here below is the entire package that the YLC National Executive voted on. Kudos to Scott Pickup for putting together the amendment!

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Preamble: “One Member, One Vote” Constitutional Package

History:

The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) has historically recognized the under-representation of young people in the political process, which manifests itself in the establishment of the Young Liberals of Canada (YLC) Commission. The Young Liberals are the heart of the Party; its strength, its energy, and its manpower. Approximately, one third, or 33% of all delegate spots are reserved for youth delegates under the current leadership system of LPC.

Problem:

At the upcoming 2009 Leadership and Biennial Convention in Vancouver, there is a constitutional amendment being presented by the National Executive of the Liberal Party to reform the leadership selection method. The proposed change is a one member one vote (OMOV) system. Under the new system, each riding would be allocated 100 points which would be distributed by percentage of the vote per leadership candidate (i.e. if Candidate X gets 50% of the votes in a riding, he will be allocated 50 points). As the amendment currently stands, there is no provision to account for the under-representation of youth in the Party. This proposal is problematic for both the Young Liberals organization and the Liberal Party as a whole.

While some may argue that this defeats the whole purpose of OMOV, we argue that OMOV defeats the purpose of having YLC to preserve and protect the youth voice in LPC—a voice that continues to be heard, respected, and fights for what matters most to young, progressive Liberals. We owe this to all Young Liberals of the past, present, and future. Young Liberals of yesterday and today have worked and fought hard for our commission and the presence we have in LPC and we owe nothing less to those of tomorrow so that they may have a home in the Party, just as we have had for years and years.

Solution:

The YLC is proposing an amendment to the amendment to allot a minimum of 25 points to youth voters in each federal riding in order to maintain our representation in LPC. This amendment would translate to having separate youth ballot boxes at a leadership vote in every riding, and the votes would be tallied separately and given a minimum of 25/100 points in that riding. However, if the percentage of youth exceeds 25%, the larger number will be counted.

Proposed LPC amendment:

(a) Delete section 56 and replace it with the following:

(1) The Leadership Vote is a direct vote of all members of the Party who have a right to vote on the Leadership Vote weighted equally for each electoral district in Canada and counted in accordance with this Section.

(2) Every member of the Party who ordinarily lives in Canada has the right to vote on the Leadership Vote, if that member has –

(a) been a member of the Party for the 41 days immediately preceding the day of the Leadership Vote;

(b) paid the registration fee (if any) for the Leadership Vote established by the National Executive;

(c) complied with the registration procedures established by the National Executive or by the Leadership Vote Committee.

(3) At least 27 days before the day of the Leadership Vote, the National Executive must publish on the public website of the Party the registration procedures for the Leadership Vote.

(4) Each member of the Party who has a right to vote on the Leadership Vote may vote by a preferential ballot on which the voter indicates their preference for leadership contestants. A ballot is not spoiled because the voter has not indicated a preference for all leadership contestants.

(5) The ballots must be counted, under the direction of the Chief Electoral Officer appointed under Subsection 56(6), in accordance with the following procedure (that is illustrated in Appendix B):

(a) Each electoral district is allocated 100 points.

(b) On the first count:

(i) for each electoral district, the first preference votes recorded in favour of leadership contestants on the ballots cast by the members of the Party who live in that electoral district are counted and then the 100 points allocated to the electoral district are allocated to each leadership contestant on the basis of the ratio the number of the first preference votes received by that leadership contestant bears to the total number of votes counted;

(ii) the total number of points allocated to each leadership contestant from all electoral districts in Canada are added to produce a total for the “national count”.

(c) On the second count, the leadership contestant who received the least points on the first national count is eliminated and that leadership contestant’s first count ballots are distributed in each electoral district among the remaining leadership contestants according to the second preferences indicated and counted according to the procedure set out in Subparagraph 56(a)(i) as if they were first preference votes.

(d) On each subsequent count, the leadership contestant who received the least votes in the preceding count is eliminated, and that leadership contestant’s ballots are distributed among the remaining leadership contestants according to the next preferences indicated.

(e) The first leadership contestant to receive more than 50% of the points allocated on any national count is selected as the Leader.

(6) The Leadership Vote Committee and the National Executive must jointly appoint a Chief Electoral Officer who will be responsible to make all arrangements necessary for the conduct of the balloting on the Leadership Vote and adjudicate all disputes over accreditation and the right to vote on the Leadership Vote.

(7) The Chief Electoral Officer appointed under Subsection 56(6) must act independently of the National Executive and each of the leadership contestants.

Proposed YLC amendment to the LPC amendment

Under section 56(5)(a) of the proposed LPC amendment, add the following:

(i) No less than 25 of the 100 points shall be allocated to members aged 25 or less.

Motion – YLC National Executive Meeting, April 3^rd, 2009.

Be it resolved that the YLC National executive adopt the proposed amendment as outlined above to be presented to the Constitutional Plenary at the 2009 Leadership and Biennial Convention of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Moved by: Scott Pickup, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Representative

Seconded by: Samuel Lavoie, VP Policy

Sam Lavoie - Young Liberal leadership

www.SamLavoie.ca

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