Liberal Brave

Stephane Dion will be a champion of Aboriginal interests

2006-12-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

As former national unity minister for Prime Minister Chretien and Environment Minister for Prime Minister Martin, I beleive Stephane Dion is well positioned to be a great friend and advocate of Canada's growing Aboriginal population. Stephane's view of Aboriginal people is not stereotypical or one-dimensional, it is complex and comrephensive. He understands that yes there are major socio-economic issues that need to be addressed, but he also understands there is a huge opportunity for all Canadians if we embrace and engage Aboriginal people as full partners in confederation. I am confident that a Prime Minister Dion will advance the state of Aboriginal in a progressive and positive manner in which all Canadians can support.

Stephane Dion's Aboriginal Vision
http://stephanedion.ca/files/stephanedion.ca/aboriginals_EN.pdf

Stephane Dion a great Liberal choice...

2006-12-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

What an exiciting convention that was. I am happy to say that I was acclaimed National Aboriginal Peoples' Commission Co-President. I look forward to working with Aboriginal members in the party to build our presence, policies and influence within the party and the nation. I am excited about our opportunities to elect more Aboriginal members to Parliament.

I am also pleased to see more younger faces at the senior level of the party. I am happy to hear that my former YLC friends Richard Diamond (Chair - Standing Committee Communications) and Brigitte Legault (Vice-President French) were also elected. They bring a wealth of skills and strengths to the party.

Although I believe all of the candidates had great ideas to offer and will make invaluable members of the "dream team", I beleive Liberal delegates made a smart choice in electing Stephane our new leader. He has been here with the party through thick and thin and has shown that being underestimated is actually positive. I feel good about his chances of leading our party to sucess and hope all Liberals will unite behind him.

Liberal Leadership Candidates build on Martin's Aboriginal legacy with impressive policies... though where is Kennedy?

2006-10-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

The frontrunners (and my guy Scott Brison) have all come out with significant and comprehensive Aboriginal policies. Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin has established a great deal of respect and honour amongst Aboriginal communities for the excellent work he did in terms of rebuilding and solidifying Aboriginal relations in this country. Liberal leadership candidates realize that Aboriginal people represent a huge opportunity in this country, we do have our fair-share of problems, but we also have a great deal to offer this country, as we have in the past.

Though for your reading pleasure, please take a few moments to read the candidate's Aboriginal platforms.

Scott Brison - Equal Opportunity, Dignity and Quality of Life
“An Aboriginal Prosperity Agenda”
http://www.scottbrison.ca/news-releases-details_e.php?pid=82&year=2006

Stephane Dion - From Principles to Action: Stéphane Dion's Plan to Tap into the Full Potential of Aboriginal Peoples
http://stephanedion.ca/files/stephanedion.ca/aboriginals_EN.pdf

Michael Ignatieff - A Renewed Relationship with Aboriginal Canadians:Recognition, Respect and Reconciliation
http://www.michaelignatieff.ca/docs/aboriginal/aboriginal_policy.pdf

Bob Rae - Bob Rae Outlines Policy on First Nations, Inuit and Métis
http://www.bobrae.ca/en/pressreleases.php#30

Gerard Kennedy - ABORIGINAL POLICY FRAMEWORK
http://www.gerardkennedy.ca/news_e.aspx?id=146

Scott Brison - A REAL LIBERAL!!!

2006-10-21T15:16:00.000-06:00

As most know, I supported Scott Brison for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. I did so for a number of reasons I have explained in previous posts. Scott is a true progressive leader who understands the importance of the economy and protecting the environment.

Throughout his campaign, Scott criss-crossed Canada attending a variety of community and Liberal events promoting his message and ideas. Scott visited and met with many Liberals who were very pleased with his balanced approach to politics. Scott also led the candidates in developing long-term thinking policy ideas. I was very pleased to participate in this process and help to develop his Aboriginal policy.

As super-weekend passed, it was clear to me that Scott got great support from across Canada, but it wasn't enough for him to win the leadership. Although Scott offered great policy ideas, is seasoned political operative and has the public persona to be a leader, the party or media did not seem to focus on these attributes. It has more to do with personality and who could win the election. I still support Scott and beleive that he would in fact be a great leader to challenge Stephen Harper's narrow vision of Canada.

Scott and his team will go to the convention and put forward their ideas for rebuilding our party and strenthening our nation. He will also be an important player in electing the next leader of the Liberal party.

I beleive that the next leader will see these great qualities in Scott and that he will be an important Atlantic Canadian Liberal organizer and if we get back into government, he will be an even more important Cabinet Minister. Scott would make an excellent Finance or Industry minister as well. Scott also will continue to speak up for social justice and diversity in our country, he is an opinion leader amongst our young and talented.

Mr. Brison has done himself proud and I am proud to have been part of his team. Brison is still very young in political life and has a bright and happy future ahead of him.

As for myself, I will continue to support Scott and his policies. Though as an Aboriginal leader in the party, I will look to other leadership candidates to be just as strong and visionary as Scott is on the future of our indigenous people in this country and in our party...

Scott Brison: A different kind of Liberal - Globe & Mail

2006-09-08T14:59:00.000-06:00

Scott Brison: A different kind of Liberal

He says it's time for 'a new generation of ideas' -- and that's why the ambitious young politician is running for the party leadership, ROY MacGREGOR writes

CHEVERIE, N.S. -- He envies the eagle floating in the late afternoon breeze coming in off the Minas Basin.
Scott Brison would like to soar as high, see as far.
He stands on the shore, the Fundy tide just beginning to rise. Bathing here one morning in the open, outdoor shower he has built at his beach house, he could see all the way to Cape Blomidon, all the way across the wide brown basin to Parrsboro on the far shore.
Yet he wants even more.
He wants to build a towering structure in the woods that rise back of the rolling fields of hay and clover that his father, the local grocer, picked up for $2,200 in the early 1950s. He wants to build above the tree tops, a home strong enough to stand up to the shifting winds, round enough to allow vision in all directions.
Different, like him.
Never let it be said Scott Brison lacks ambition. In elementary school, he gave a speech to the local 4-H club that quoted, as inspirational talks invariably do, the likes of Mark Twain and Will Rogers, but where the most powerful words were his own.
"Iron rusts from disuse," he said at 12 years of age. "Stagnant water loses its purity. And inaction saps the vigour of the mind. To be successful one must be ready for hard work, must have integrity and must have a good attitude. If you have the will to win, you've achieved half your success. If you don't have the will to win, you've achieved half your failure."
"I still believe in that now," he said, smiling at the old speech his parents kept all these years.
He is 39 now, so filled with will to win that, in another hour or so, he will be introduced to several hundred locals as not just the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada but "the next prime minister of Canada." They will not only cheer but they will dance as the most unusual, certainly most entertaining, of the 10 candidates to succeed Paul Martin takes to the microphone and begins belting out Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line.
They have come for Mr. Brison's annual barbecue and country dance, as they have come every summer since he first ran for office, and won, in 1997. Some came originally as Progressive Conservatives, now as Liberals. Some come today as provincial Conservatives, federal Liberals. Some just come because, well, Scott can be whatever he wants to be, for all they care, so long as he continues to represent the very rural, very conservative riding of Kings-Hants.
He can be a Liberal instead of the Conservative they once thought him to be. He can be gay instead of the straight young man his parents once thought him to be. For all they know -- and many of them lining up for the chicken breasts and potato salad believe this possible -- he can be leader of the Liberal Party and even prime minister of Canada.
"I don't think you plan your life," Mr. Brison said on a long walk along the beach before the guests arrived, a walk he jokingly called "the Hants County Gay Pride Parade."
He did, on the other hand, plan to get involved politically from a very young age, either as an organizer or a candidate. It just happened about a quarter-century before he figured he would be ready. And there was a time, a long, long time, when he thought his dream would prove impossible. An openly gay person could not run for office and be elected. Not in rural Canada. Not as a conservative. Not here in the heart of Nova Scotia's "Baptist Belt."
And yet, he has. Four victories, two as a Progressive Conservative, two now as a Liberal, three victories while openly gay, the first despite being challenged by innuendo.
It was at this moment that Mr. Brison came to appreciate "what an amazing country we live in." A Reform/Alliance supporter was at the microphone during an all-candidates forum in nearby Windsor, and when he insisted on going on about why Mr. Brison had never married, the largely blue-rinse and white-hair audience began booing, some even standing to wave their fists at the questioner. Shortly after a story appeared in Frank magazine suggesting Mr. Brison was gay, he went public and today lives openly with his partner, Maxime St. Pierre. And despite some hard feelings that persist among certain local Conservatives concerning his switching to the Liberals, neither sexual choice nor party affiliation has hurt him in the least at the ballot box.
Mr. Brison speaks openly, and at length, about growing up gay. He was, at one point, desperate to be straight. "I didn't enjoy being an adolescent," he said. "It was a painful period." No one else noticed. He seemed to fit in perfectly. His older sister, Fran, said he was precocious and "born with this in him" to be at the centre rather than the fringe. He was president of his student council, played hockey and baseball like his older brothers Philip and Mitchell, and was popular with the girls. But no one knew.
"I fought it," he said. "No one knew how pained I was. I fought it right through university," while earning a degree in commerce from Dalhousie. "I prayed to God that I would be able to change." But, eventually, he came to terms with reality and let his family know.
"It was quite a blow to us," said Clifford Brison, the candidate's 82-year-old father. The shock was sufficient that, at one point, it sent Clifford and Verna Brison in search of professional help. The best advice, however, came from their own family doctor, who told them, "You go home and you put your arm around him and you tell him you love him. So we did."
It annoys Clifford Brison that the sexuality of one candidate becomes an issue while not for others, yet it remains a pivotal point in Scott Brison's political life as well as personal, and therefore comes far more into play than would otherwise be the case.
When his Progressive Conservative Party -- for which he once ran for leader -- merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the new Conservative Party, Mr. Brison met with leader Stephen Harper to determine whether same-sex marriage, a big Alliance concern, would continue under the new order. It would not only remain one, Mr. Harper told Mr. Brison, but was considered a "core" issue for the new party.
Mr. Brison knew at that instant, he said, "I could not run for a party that I did not want to win the election." Now party-less, he decided he was now a Liberal.
Mr. Brison is adamant that he never actually crossed any floor, but it hardly matters to those who have come here this sunny day.
"I'm 85 years old," said Margie Faulkner, his aunt, "and I voted Conservative in every single election, but when Scott crossed the floor, so did we."
He did not step right into cabinet, but was appointed minister of public works in Paul Martin's short-lived minority government.
He calls it "the most satisfying period of my working life." He set out to overhaul the procurement procedures of this vast department, instituted significant cost-saving initiatives -- and all went completely unnoticed because of the Gomery inquiry into previous contractual practices in the department under another minister.
Oddly enough, Mr. Brison seems to treasure the Gomery experience, revelling in the fact that about 1,000 questions were directed his way in the brief government and that, by all accounts, he performed well under pressure.
"He has the guts of a canal horse," said his father.
"I went through such hell early in my life with taking decisions, that I feel very comfortable taking them now," Mr. Brison said.
One decision profoundly regretted, however, is the morning he chose not to be forthcoming when Globe and Mail Ottawa bureau chief Brian Laghi called concerning talk of an RCMP investigation into a possible cabinet leak.
Just before then-finance-minister Ralph Goodale was to announce the government position on income-trust taxation in November, Mr. Brison, a former investment broker, sent an e-mail to a major bank's senior investment manager saying "I think you will be happier very soon."
Mr. Brison's first instinct was to deny knowledge of the e-mail, but he quickly called a news conference. He admitted to sending the e-mail but maintained he had no precise knowledge of Mr. Goodale's position, had been privy to no departmental meetings and was innocent of any wrongdoing. He said no inside information was being passed on, merely that the long-promised decision was finally coming down. CIBC has said nothing untoward was done in connection with Mr. Brison's cheery hint.
"I didn't do anything dishonest," Mr. Brison said. "I understand how people could misinterpret that, but I'm telling the truth. I did not have that information."
He does, however, admit to the mistake of being "evasive" when contacted by the reporter. He did so, he said, because he believed such an RCMP investigation would not be for discussion by a member of cabinet, but he now says he blew it.
"I've learned from that," he said. "I feel stronger for it. It toughens you up."
His baggage is far more the debatable e-mail exchange than it is crossing the floor. He knows that "baggage" is part of the makeup of this leadership race in which most candidates have exactly the same strategy: be everyone's second, third or fourth choice and slip through on the inside on a later ballot.
Mr. Brison is not even the only candidate to come from another party -- Bob Rae's years as New Democratic premier of Ontario weigh far more heavily on his shoulders than Mr. Brison's time as a Progressive Conservative. Michael Ignatieff has his long absence from Canada, Joe Volpe has his campaign donations, Stéphane Dion has his time in a cabinet that was unpopular in Quebec. Of the several said not to speak acceptable French, Mr. Brison -- who has the ear of a born mimic, able to give you Joe Clark one minute, Johnny Cash the next -- has come the furthest quickest, according to one fluent rival for the job, but he knows he still has a long, long way to go.
"I speak English with an accent from Nova Scotia, too," he joked.
Had his friend Frank McKenna -- the former New Brunswick premier and former Canadian ambassador to Washington -- decided to run, Mr. Brison would never have entertained the thought. What he would like to do is emulate Mr. McKenna, to change the way a province thinks about itself as well as how the country thinks of the province, only he would wish to do it to Canada as a nation: change how Canadians think about themselves, change how the world thinks of Canada.
Mr. Brison has picked up the support of two Maritime MPs, with a third expected this week, and seven senators. He also has the strong backing of Halifax businessman John Roy, who started up the Summit REIT real-estate investment firm that has been so successful giant ING has just offered $3.3-billion in a corporate takeover.
While he is widely considered to be running around the middle of the pack, his organizers say he belongs in the top tier.
Over the summer, Mr. Brison lost two key staff members, his national campaign director, Leslie Swartman, and former CBC radio journalist Susan Murray, who was handling communications. Ms. Murray, who took a full-time job with a think tank, remains a supporter. Ms. Swartman's replacement, Chris MacInnes, was chief of staff to Joe McGuire, minister for Atlantic Canada Opportunities in the Martin cabinet and once a worker for former Chrétien cabinet minister Allan Rock.
Mr. Brison insists he is in the race to win -- nothing less will do.
Running merely to position himself would be "highly narcissistic," he said, and grossly unfair to those working on his campaign. Perhaps Brian Mulroney, John Turner, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin all had earlier runs for the leadership, but he had no interest in a "practice" campaign. As for setting himself up for a plum cabinet posting, should the Liberals ever return to office, he had already been in cabinet, had performed well, and could expect another chance without having gone through this.
What he had to offer, he believed, was difference. He came from Atlantic Canada. He had a rural background. And he was the youngest in the race. It was time, he believed, that Canada, as Britain had done under Tony Blair, turned to "a new generation of leadership, a new generation of ideas."
"Our party needs a generational change," said Richard Diamond, the president of the Young Liberals and a Brison supporter. "Scott represents the values we care about."
It will soon be 2007, Mr. Brison will argue during this long campaign, and politics is no longer about old notions based on some imaginable centre. "You say 'left wing,' 'right wing' to most Canadians, they think hockey players," he said.
"I was born in the sixties, but I'm not stuck there. You can't solve 21st-century problems with 1960s ideas." If the Liberal Party is ever going to come back, he says, it will be because of ideas, not ideology.
"The Liberal Party has sometimes tried so hard to agree with Canadians on every single issue that it has picked up a reputation as a bit of a windsock," he said.
Like the high, circular home he plans to construct in the woods, he believes in standing up to prevailing winds. Along with Mr. Ignatieff, he departed from the Liberal line to vote with the government in order to extend the mission in Afghanistan. He did so because he was part of the original decision to join the coalition and because he believes, absolutely, that Canada must show its resolve against terrorism. He does not, however, approve of the "wedge politics" Mr. Harper used to split, and embarrass, the Liberals by calling a vote that affects, far more, the real lives of those dealing in a real situation.
"What he did is morally wrong," Mr. Brison said of Mr. Harper's political gambit to use the military to divide, further, the opposition. "This is going to come back and bite him in the rear end."
Next election, however, "It is not going to be good enough just to attack Stephen Harper. That's what we did last time."
Instead, Mr. Brison is calling for a "green economy," one that combines social progressiveness with economic innovation and responsibility. He wants real tax reform that stops hurting the working poor. He wants to give young people a leg up by letting them keep their first $25,000 in earnings. He wants to put an end to regional alienation by moving more federal concerns out of Ottawa, talking about such possibilities as having Indian Affairs set up in Saskatchewan, Fisheries and Oceans moving to the coasts where the fish are found. He wants to turn Canada into the world's leading "clean energy" nation in the 21st century.
Mr. Brison envisions safer environmental methods for removing the oil from the tar sands, new consideration of nuclear power and vast new initiatives to harness the power of the wind, the sun and, he points out to the swiftly rising tide, the surging waters of the Bay of Fundy.
"This could all be a huge opportunity for rural Canada," he said. "They're not going to be putting a wind farm on the corner of Bay and Bloor." He also wants to tap into Canada's rich multiculturalism to build "bridges" around the world. "Instead of talking about Canada's importance in the world," he says, "we've got to make Canada important in the world."
Gain the respect of the world, he says, and the respect of the United States cannot help but follow.
"We have a huge opportunity here," he says, "to punch above our weight."
To fly, he might also say, above the trees.
At a glance
Name: Scott Brison
Age: 39
Born: Windsor, N.S.
Personal: Single, in a relationship with partner Maxime St-Pierre
Political history: First elected to the House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative in 1997, Mr. Brison emerged as the quick-tongued finance critic in the tiny PC caucus. He briefly resigned from his Kings-Hants seat in 2000 to allow then-leader Joe Clark to enter the Commons. In 2003, Mr. Brison ran for the Progressive Conservative leadership, finishing fourth.
After the Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance, Mr. Brison left the new Conservative Party -- saying his party left him -- and was recruited by incoming Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. After being elected as a Liberal in 2004, Mr. Brison was made Public Works minister, and was handed the job of dealing with the sponsorship scandal.
Quote: "There is a new desire for a new generation of leadership in Canada and outside of Canada . . . We have young Canadians that represent the most educated and informed generation in the history of Canada. And they're interested in ideas, but by and large they're not interested in politics. I'd like to help change that."

Keep the Commissions, they add value to the party!

2006-09-05T14:45:00.000-06:00

Gordon Gibson is sure wrong about the value and importance of having Aboriginal people (through the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission) and youth (through the Young Liberals of Canada) invovled in the Liberal Party. He talks about how these groups are not "mainstream Canada" and have little important role to play in the party. I absolutely disagree. The Aboriginal and Youth commissions have played a vaulable role in attracting new people to the party at time when our party needs to expand its voters base.

Liberal reform: More than new lipstick on the old pig
GORDON GIBSON
Globe and Mail

The Liberal Party of Canada is a mild-mannered beast when in government,reproducing incestuously and rewarding its apparatchiks while keeping themilitants at bay. Historically Toronto-centric (with a Quebec veto, ofcourse), the party's power structure gradually became a coalition of specialinterests. Here were multicult ethnics, gender politicians, an aboriginalcommission, stuffed-shirt youth and regional fiefs, all baronies that havelittle to do with mainstream Canada. This can catch up if people takenotice, and the country today is mostly represented outside of Toronto andanglo Montreal by the Tories or the Bloc Québécois.So power has been lost by the Natural Governing Party. In response, assurely as night follows day, a reform commission has been appointed. I knowsomething about that. Though my partisan days are long behind, I once hadthe honour of serving as co-chair of the National Reform Commission of theLiberal Party of Canada in 1985. The general thought behind such aself-examination is that, if the voters have made a temporary mistake, it isnecessary to put new lipstick on the old pig before the next election.The new task-force report is done. It has one very good idea and a number ofrather bad ones -- not a terrible ratio in politics. The simple trick is tokill the bad ones.The good idea is that of a national council of presidents that would meetregularly to review party success and direction. First proposed in 1985, andstrangled at birth by divisions at the ensuing convention, such a councilwould be able to act as a powerful check on the leader; in Canada, thiswould be a good thing for any party in 2006. Prime ministers have become sopowerful as to be virtually four-year elected dictators. Competent peoplesuch as Stephen Harper can demonstrate this even in a minority period.Caucuses and Parliaments do not make for accountability, whatever thetheory. They do what they are told, because the PM has so many levers overthem.A national council of presidents -- 300 or so ordinary people with no axesto grind or favours to seek, able to call the leader to account -- would addan important balance wheel to our partisan constitutional structure thatalready has a precursor in the traditions of the NDP. It is easy to recalltimes when both Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin were so offside with theLiberal Party (and the country) that such a council would have been a realproblem for them. Interestingly, the council could be given teeth. Thecurrent task force has proposed a tool to sanction the leader in a couple ofspecified areas beyond mere embarrassment, by way of calling a leadershipreview should he or she fail to do certain things. Such a general powercould be afforded the council.The report contains some useful technical additions (a national membership,for example), the much-needed cancellation of layers of encrusted committees-- and some serious errors. As one example of the latter, it is proposedthat each riding association delegation to conventions should have tworeserved aboriginal slots, a racial distinction that's wrong in a worldwhere we celebrate too much the things that divide us.The report would continue and enhance the ridiculous power of youth in theLiberal Party. There are two problems. The first is, the youth component hastraditionally been subject to capture and/or purchase by ambitious seniorleaders. The second is, while youth may be our future as a country, they arecertainly not our wisdom.The task force offers the alternative of choosing future leaders byuniversal ballot, i.e. "one Liberal, one vote." This would be a mistake.Nothing sounds more democratic, but, in practice, it gives the leadersupreme power by being able to say to the caucus, "I was elected by all ofthe party, I speak for them, and so will not be accountable to you." Butaccountability to parliamentarians is at the very centre of ourconstitutional theory, and properly so since changing times require suchongoing discipline. The old Reform Party began this error. The Liberalsshould not copy it. Leaders are already too powerful. The delegated systemof choosing leaders should be retained, and the power of caucus and themembership vis-à-vis the leader should be enhanced by such devices as thecouncil of presidents.Political parties are not mentioned in our Constitution. Yet, they governour lives by choosing our leaders. Parties are largely left to governthemselves, for better or worse. Often, it is worse. Few things seem lessinteresting than the Liberal Party's internal affairs, but a revitalizationis needed to give the voters a choice and the decisions on these questionswill be of future importance.

Aboriginal Delegates to 2006 Liberal Leadership Convention

2006-08-30T16:35:00.000-06:00

Some people have been asking me how many delegate spots the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission has. 245 are set aside for delegates from APC provincial and territorial associations (PTA) . On top of that 8 table officers of the national executive of the APC, as well at the APC PTAs Presidents are all ex-officio. I beleive each PTA can also appoint two (2) ex-offcio from their commissions. The Aboriginal Caucus (4 MPs and 5 Senators) and Aboriginal candidates from the past election are ex-officio. I also expect some Aboriginal delegates will go through their constituency associations. Especially where the Aboriginal population is very high (ie: Western & Northern ridings).

Provincial Breakdown:
APC Delegates to the 2006 Leadership Convention

Provincial % of National Aboriginal Population
(According to 2001 “Aboriginal Identity” Provincial Percentages)
Total Number of APC Delegates to National Convention

Yukon
0.7%
3 Minimum Delegates

Northwest Territories
1.9%
5 Delegates

Nunavut
2.3%
5 Delegates

British
Columbia
17.4%
42 Delegates

Alberta
16.0%
38 Delegates

Saskatchewan
13.3%
32 Delegates

Manitoba
15.4%
37 Delegates

Ontario
19.3%
47 Delegates

Quebec
8.1%
20 Delegates

New Brunswick
1.7%
4 Delegates

Newfoundland and Labrador
1.9%
5 Delegates

Prince Edward Island
0.1%
3 Minimum Delegates

Nova Scotia
1.7%
4 Delegates

Total Aboriginal Population in Canada 1,319,890

Canada 100%
245 Total APC Delegates

Red Ribbon Task Force - Recommendations for Commissions

2006-08-24T13:13:00.000-06:00

The Red Ribbon Committee Report has been released, here is the section that deals with Commission. I will comment on my thoughts after a thorough look at the ideas.
(But from the start, they don't look too bad, I actually like many of these ideas.)

Commissions

Commissions have become an integral part of the Party. There is seeming consensus
that each of the Young Liberals, Aboriginal Peoples’, Womens’ and Seniors’ Liberal
Commissions have provided net benefits to the Party. Their continued existence is
important to a great number of people. The Task Force is not inclined to challenge their
continued existence.

However, there are perverse effects commensurate with the establishment of
Commissions. First and foremost, anything that detracts from the core functions of the
Party and does not contribute – directly or indirectly - to the formulation of policy or the
ultimate election of Liberals to the House of Commons should be rejected.
Commissions exist, essentially, to increase the representation of their constituent
members in the Party and as Members of Parliament. They do this by encouraging the
Party to adopt policies that entice members of their constituencies to vote Liberal, and
L I B E R A L P A R T Y O F C A N A D A
by encouraging members of their constituencies to seek Party office and elective office.
They are not designed to be parallel organizations that dissuade people from adding their
energies to EDAs and the National Party. Rather, they are expected to add their unique
voices to the existing efforts of the Party. This means, in our view, that Commissions
must refocus their energies around adding energy and perspective to the Party’s core
functions.

There have been success stories in this regard. Liberals have fielded, and elected, more
aboriginal candidates than ever before. Legendary are those "former" Young Liberals
who have gone on to occupy positions of prominence in the Party. However, challenges
remain. Women still do not run as Liberal candidates for the House of Commons in
sufficient numbers, and the Seniors’ Liberal Commission, still in its early days, has not yet
attracted a significant number of eligible Liberals to its active ranks.

Perversely, Commission club provisions of the Constitution have also been used to
generate accredited delegate spots for Conventions, only to disappear once the
relevant Convention has ended. This should not detract from the excellent work done
by legitimate clubs, but clearly everyone has an interest in seeing the abuses end. The
Task Force believes that strengthened accreditation requirements should be adopted to
reward those clubs that have been established legitimately, and ward off establishment of
"paper clubs" that undermine the Party’s electoral processes and reputation. Clubs that
achieve the new accreditation threshold would receive delegate spots as follows: two
per women’s club, two (1M, 1F) per seniors’ club, and of course four (2m, 2F) per campus
club. Aboriginal delegates will be elected in EDAs, with two spots per riding.

Therefore, the Task Force recommends:
• That a minimum of 50 members be required to accredit a Commission club.
• That commission ceases to exist once Party members, at Convention
determine that they have completed or fulfilled their mandate.

The 50 member minimum for accreditation in no way discourages the establishment of
clubs of any size. In fact, the Party should encourage clubs of any size to be established.
However, only accredited clubs would be eligible to participate in activities established
pursuant to the Constitution of the Party, such as Conventions.

Smog is our future? Some of us care...

2006-08-22T11:43:00.000-06:00

I am a contributor for Calgary Herald's Q Blog. Here is my latest contribution.

The last couple of days it has been very hazy and smoky in the City of Calgary. It got me thinking about the environment and the future of our great country. I look out the window and the visibility is very poor. I thought to myself, what if it was always like this or maybe it would get worse. For a person who is asthmatic and has allergies, this can be especially troubling. I know forest fires cause most of this smoke, but our smog factor seems to be getting worse each year.

I think about how wasteful we live in our oil rich city. I catch the bus to work in the mornings and I realize how many people are driving big gas guzzling trucks and SUVs often with just one person in them. Maybe they can afford the gas, but how wasteful and unnecessary. Do people believe just because they can do something they should?

One of the reasons why I always loved Calgary and Alberta so much is because of the how clean and pristine the environment and air was. But as our city passes the million mark and industry moves forward with a hurricanes force this is starting to change.

I was in Toronto a few years back for a week. I admired the big city, its cultural and vibrant metro life. But after a few days I started to miss Calgary. I missed the bountiful prairies, the view of the Mountains and freshness of our water. I walked around downtown Toronto and I could smell the pollution and I started to get depressed as a realized there was very little green spaces in this concrete jungle. I remembered when I first flew over Toronto I seen this small black cloud over it and I wondered if this was a weather phenomena. But my friend corrected me and let me know that it was a permanent feature, it was there smog cloud that was generally always there. I walked along the streets and I could smell the filth and see the steam come up from the sewers. It eventually made me very sick and I wanted to come home to our beautiful city and walk in a park.

But our city is starting to change and with growth come this filth. After a while you will understand when you smell car exhaust on your clothes and in your hair. Imagine our city in 20-30 years. You go to look up at the skyscrapers, but you cannot see the top, clouded by a smoke and pollution. At night you remember when you were young and you looked up at the stars, later you start to forget what stars look like. You remember when you were young and you could see the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but all you can see now a thick black cloud of smog on the horizon.

It is time we start thinking seriously about our city and province and what direction we want to head. We can choose to let industry have carte blanche over the industrial and resource development of our province. Or do we take a serious look at degradation of our environment and what cost will come to our quality of life? I wonder do the CEOs and politicians care about what kind of life and future there children, grandchildren and descendents will have? Or do they just care about their immediate monetary gain?

It is not just the CEOs and politicians we all have a responsibility to do something more comprehensive if we want a healthy future. Many Albertans cry foul over the possibility of a carbon tax and the cost to industry. What about the cost to life and humanity? Is not that also important?

Links
Scott Brison's Clean Air Policy
Michael Ignateff's Plan for the Environment

I was born a Liberal, I just came out a few years ago

2006-08-18T15:45:00.000-06:00

'I was born a Liberal, I just came out a few years ago,' says Brison
2006-08-14Scott Brison has been called the dark horse of the Liberal leadership race, but then again he doesn't care much for being the front-runner.

http://www.scottbrison.ca/campaign-news-details_e.php?pid=48&year=2006

(On a funny side note, I was part of the Mount Royal College Liberal Association in 2003, at the 2003 Liberal Leadership Convention our humble campus club one the 'YLC Campus Club of the Year award', which goes back many generations of young liberals. Here we were a small but active campus club in a college in Calgary, and we beat out all these much larger university campus clubs to take the award back to the college. I remember when I accepted the award on behalf of MRCLA presented by Paul Martin. My short speech, was "in Calgary, it's sometimes hard to be a Liberal, I used to be a closet-Liberal, but I am now very proud to say I am a Liberal." Scott Brison has a bright future in our party...

Aboriginal people are proud to support Scott Brison for Liberal Leader

2006-07-20T15:18:00.000-06:00

Aboriginal people are proud to support Liberal King-Hants MP, the Honourable Scott Brison as our next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

I have been an avid and excited supporter of Scott Brison since he announced his intention to seek the leadership of the Liberal party. In this somewhat difficult time for Liberals, Scott has provided an optimistic and bold vision for a Canada and a new generation of politics. Here is an e-mail I sent a few weeks ago expressing my support for Scott.

E-mail: As you may know I am supporting Scott Brison for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and hopefully Opposition Leader and then Prime Minister. I feel comfortable saying this because I know Scott Brison is committed to working to rebuild our party and putting the necessary hardwork and determination to create conditions for the Liberal party to take on Stephen Harper's disastrous government. I feel good about supporting him from a number of levels, as a Liberal, as a young Canadian and as a Westerner. I beleive he has the right combination of having a vision, knowing where to take our party and how to communicate with Canadians that is needed to be a national leader.

I have talked to Scott about his ideas and vision for the Liberal Party and I have no problem in stating that he is a true liberal who beleives in being socially progressive, economically innovative and environmentally responsible. Scott was re-elected twice as a Liberal in a very traditional conservative riding. He knows what it will takes to get more Aboriginal, Western and rural Liberal candidates elected. He also has the economic and progressive values that will engage urban Canadians. Brison has shown his commitment to our party by being a brave and firm Minister of Public Works when the party was going through a very difficult time (sponsorship). I watched him in the House of Commons day-after-day taking hits from the Conservatives about our party's integrity, Scott stood his ground and stared the Conservatives deep in the eyes and let them know that he was proud to be Liberal and would challenge any Conservative or NDP. Like he says we have to be more economically innovative then the Conservatives and more progressive then the NDP.

In terms of the leadership, I of course am a little biased, but I beleive if you go through the candidates websites and speeches, Scott has offered the most in terms of an Aboriginal agenda, dicussing how he will work to develop Aboriginal policy and work internally in the party to ensure the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission and Aboriginal Caucus play an central role. In collaboration and partnership with non-Liberal and Liberal Aboriginal leaders and individuals from across this country, the Brison campaign today revealed his Aboriginal Prosperity Agenda. Scott has worked with us to develop these policies and if elected leader of our party, he is committed to ensuring that Aboriginal people lead the discussion in developing ideas and solutions on how to engage challenges and opportunities.

Scott Brison is right when he says he represents a new generation of politics, I am happy to be part of a new generation of thinking that will renew the Liberal Party and earn the trust and confidence of Aboriginals and all Canadians.

If you go through all of the candidate's websites and google them, you will find that Brison has the most comprehensive Aboriginal policy and also recognizes the importance of the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission, the Liberal Aboriginal Caucus and Aboriginal members in general. Scott Brison has growing support amongst Aboriginal Liberals (or AborLiberals as my friend Cindy Woodhouse likes to say):

Prominent and Ex-Officio Aboriginal Liberal Supporters of Scott Brison
APC = Aboriginal Peoples’ Commission, the APC has a national body, as well as provincial and territorial associations.
Allan Adam, past provincial Liberal candidate, Saskatchewan
Ryan Buffalo, Vice-President (Youth), Alberta APC
T. J. Burke, (Aboriginal) MLA (Fredericton North), New Brunswick
George Cameron, past provincial Liberal candidate,Saskatchewan
Darcy Diachinsky, President, APC Saskatchewan
Autumn EagleSpeaker, President, Alberta APC
Joshua Fraser, National Vice-President (Youth), APC and Vice-President (Communications), Alberta APC
Ryan Francis, President, Nova Scotia APC
Sheila Keewatin-Musqua, Past National Vice President (Organization), APC
Irene Morin, Past APC National Co-chair
Don Ross, Past APC National Co-chair and Co-chair, 2003 Liberal Party of Canada Biennial Convention
Cindy Woodhouse, National Vice-President (Communications), APC and Vice President, APC Manitoba

Lets reform the LPC National Executive the right way

2006-07-18T15:52:00.000-06:00

As most know the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) is going through a renewal and leadership process this year. It is a time for the party to find itself, regroup and decide where it is going and how it will get there. With the strength of the reunited Conservative party and weaknesses caused by the sponsorship program and being in government for 13 years, this is a crucial time for the Liberal party and it is absolutely essential that we get it right, the first time, if we don’t do thing right this time, we could be in the political wilderness (opposition) for quite awhile. We are fortunate that our nation doesn’t yet feel the full damage of what a Harper Conservative majority would do to this country. Although we already feel the implications of a Conservative minority, the loss of the Kelowna Accord and destruction of the Kyoto Treaty are two that most affect me.

In a recent article (July 7, 2006) Toronto Star columnist Susan Delacourt reported on a supposedly leaked document that included recommendations by the Red Ribbon Committee, a committee set up by the LPC National Executive to review the party structure. Based on the article, the recommendations included changing the size and composition of the LPC to be cut in half. Before I even discuss this, I would like to raise the fact that many in the party haven’t even been consulted, nor have they been asked for input. I find it funny that the Star would have this document and the President of the party would do an interview without first consulting many of the people these recommendations would affect. I am on the national executive of the Aboriginal Peoples’ Commission, we have three representatives of the LPC National Executive, far less then the Women’s, Young Liberals or Senior’s commissions, yet we have not been informed or consulted about any of these recommendations. I found it premature and unaccountable to approach restructuring the LPC from recommendations that come from the top-down. I am also of the understanding that there are no commission representatives on this Red Ribbon Committee, which is also disturbing.

Since then I have heard all sorts of rumors on the Liberal Blogs and from party members that they are going to get rid of the commission representatives or the commissions all together. I think that those involved with Red Ribbon would know the benefit having these commissions has for our party and I trust this is not a recommendation. If they want to start somewhere, I would get rid of the overlap of having regional representatives and the provincial and territorial association presidents and maybe scaling back the commission representatives to two per commission. Quite frankly, I do understand our need to have a youth, women’s and Aboriginal commission, but I never understood why we have a senior’s commission. It has been well documented that seniors are well represented, if not over-represented in our political institutions. Seniors get elected, go to the polls and have their policies well represented, so I don’t understand their usage.

I don’t understand how using the Conservative National Council model would benefit us, our model is designed to run our party effectively and engage as many people as possible. I don’t even understand the basis of the Conservative model, but I believe it’s based on province’s population with 4 seats for Ontario, 3 seats for Quebec, 2 for Alberta and B.C. and one for the rest of each of the provinces with the territories sharing three. When we look at the Liberal National Executive model rather then taking away commission representatives, we need to ask ourselves about the other committees, as it seems party staff and executive fulfill most of those responsibilities. If these committees are useful, then the power to utilize them to the fullest extent should be given back to the committees. I think that is one of the biggest problems, under-utilization of current commissions and bodies within the LPC.

In the article, it was also suggested one of the reasons we lost is because of our party size and structure. I would say quite the opposite to be true. As an active member in two of the commissions, I would state that they were not used to their fullest capacity. The problem with the party is we have all these great organizations and individuals who run for leadership of these organizations with great ideas, only to lose all of the power during elections to appointed un-elected party officials who call all the shots.

Apparently the recommendations of the Red Ribbon Committee will be coming out shortly, finally, to us in the party who are actually elected to represent the grassroots, so maybe we can actually have some input and say what we feel will best reflect the needs of our party. I would certainly not support any amendments to the constitution that disbanded the Young Liberal’s, Women’s or Aboriginal Peoples’ Commissions, I would however support fewer commission reps on the LPC National Executive, I think two per commission again is a balanced number. Without having this representation, the same thing can happen which happened with the Red Ribbon Committee, that is people above your making decisions that directly affect you, without having any input from your constituency group.

I know for myself and many Aboriginal and young Liberals, we would not have been this active in the party unless they had our respective commissions to engage us and be a conduit for our involvement.

Scott Brison for Liberal Leader

2006-07-13T13:12:00.000-06:00

Time to get Blogging!

2006-07-07T15:09:00.000-06:00

Well I have had this Blogsite for a few months now and have yet to post anything interesting yet. So here it goes.

My name is Joshua Fraser (www.joshfraser.ca), I am the Vice-President (Youth) of the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission of the Liberal Party of Canada. I am also the Aboriginal Representative on national executive of the Young Liberals of Canada. I am also active in the Alberta Young Liberals, Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta, Calgary Centre Constituency Association, Alberta APC and Mount Royal College Liberal association. I have been active in the party since 1999 when then Finance Minister Paul Martin met with a bunch of us young Aboriginal students in Calgary. He inspired me to get involved and I did, I ran for local positions, then provincial and at the 2003 Liberal Leadership Convention I was elected the national Vice-President (Youth) for APC, which I ran again and won at the 2005 convention.

Obviously I was and still am a very big fan of Paul Martin, though in retrospect I recognize many of the mistakes made by his close circle of advisors or the board as they called them. I used to tell people not to blame Paul, but I guess when people make you aware of these problems and you keep these people around you, you are responsible. Though I still have a lot of respect for the man and acknowledge that he was the best Prime Minister the Aboriginal (First Nation, Metis and Inuit) could ask for. He truly believed in helping Aboriginal people gain a more equal place in our society. He was a great friend to my people and we will always acknowledge his contributions.

I am now a proud supporter of Scott Brison and I am working with him to build the new generation of leaders in the Liberal party. I also like Ignateiff, Dion and Dryden respectively.