Victory in Labrador: Liberal donations at work

May 17, 2013

Monday night’s by-election victory in Labrador was a model of political campaign organization.

It was also proof that all donations — from a $5 gift in response to our emails, to regular monthly Victory Fund contributions, or even a $1200 gift as a Laurier Club donor — can make change happen.

Let’s start at the beginning.

On the afternoon of March 14 news broke that Peter Penashue had resigned after taking 28 ineligible contributions last election.

Within 90 minutes, all the key individuals from our National Office, Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador federal executive and the Labrador Riding Association were connected and organizing.

Such a quick and efficient response would simply not have been possible without the stability provided by our generous riding, Victory Fund and Laurier Club donors.

The election wasn’t even called and Yvonne Jones wasn’t nominated yet as our candidate and the Conservatives had already started flooding the riding with advertising. But we didn’t hesitate. Because of the strong financial support from Liberals across Canada, within days we too were able to get our message into Labrador newspapers and on radio with Big Land FM.

Liberals provided the riding association and campaign team with the resources and encouragement it needed to win. And contributions from Liberals also helped Justin Trudeau and Bob Rae visit Labrador to give the team valuable support.

The biggest lesson of all is this: we came together as a team, we worked hard as a team, and we helped Yvonne Jones get elected as a team. This victory belongs to all of us.

Thanks to all Liberals, from coast to coast to coast, for their collective support and ongoing engagement.

The Liberal Team