The proposal, adopted Saturday by the party's national board during a three-hour meeting with the prime minister in Halifax, would do away entirely with the long-held principle that only dues-paying, card-carrying members are entitled to take part in party activities.Reviewing this preliminary release, I am certainly in favour of some of the proposed changes and cautiously optimistic about the rest.
I've always long supported open conventions, especially when developing policy. I think more consensus brought about by talking with more people is a good thing. Having run and lost delegate selection meetings, it can be deflating when you want to participate.
I think the challenge will be in the open nominations part. I think it's going to have the unintended consequence of calling for more transparency in the party's Green Light process. Not necessarily a bad thing.
That said - I'm not entirely sure $10 is an insurmountable barrier to openness. It represents a commitment to the ideals of the party. The Conservative Party, in contrast, raised their membership fee to $25 to prevent openness and restrict access to reforming the party.
I'm presuming delegates will be presented with the formal proposal prior to the convention and I'll review the details then.