A more open Liberal Party

April 13, 2016

Earlier this year, I invited you to imagine building a Liberal movement that is more open, unified, innovative, and engaging than ever before.

I asked us to be courageous in how we move our party and our country forward, and to show once again that the Liberal Party of Canada is not afraid to challenge the status quo – even if it means breaking with some of our own traditions.

I am deeply impressed by the breadth of ideas that you offered in response.

After remarkable hard work and engagement by LPC President Anna Gainey, your LPC Constitutional Advisers and working group, and your representatives from every province, territory, and Commission on the National Board, I am proud to be able to share our proposed new Liberal constitution.

Our Winnipeg biennial convention this May represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize and strengthen our movement for the 21st century.

At a time when Conservatives are raising barriers to Canadians’ involvement and charging $25 to join their party, this new constitution eliminates the traditional concept of membership entirely. Instead, any Canadian regardless of their means will be able to “register” as a Liberal and help shape our country’s future — for free.

It’s a bold move that speaks to our values as Liberals – and it doesn’t get more open than that.

I’ve also heard from you that our Liberal policy process has too often felt closed off and difficult to navigate, making it tough for new Liberals to get and stay engaged.

The new constitution opens up policy development to allow for a more flexible, interactive and participatory process for all Liberals, strengthening Liberal voices and enabling new low-barrier engagement opportunities throughout the electoral cycle.

Perhaps most importantly, this new constitution modernizes our movement to win in 2019 – by unifying the party under one streamlined constitution and party structure, while strongly supporting the regional voices and local organizing that have helped us effectively engage Canadians and their ideas.

We all worked so very hard over the past few years to build a modern political movement in this country. It was rewarding, interesting, and gritty work. But our old and overly-prescriptive 81-page constitution often got in the way of that work. It was written for an era that has passed, and it is one of at least 18 constitutions that currently affect the national operations of our party.

Our movement worked long and hard to earn the trust of Canadians last year, and we need to stay at the forefront of modern campaigns as we work together to repeat that success in 2019. This proposed new constitution honours our shared effort by taking the lessons we learned during the last campaign, and applying them to the next.

You can get more details about all of these important reforms at 1party.ca, and together they represent the beginning an even more innovative, open, and engaging future for the Liberal Party of Canada.

That’s why I’m asking you for your support and your vote in favour of this new constitution in Winnipeg this May. It needs a two-thirds majority to pass, which means that every vote counts.

Please watch this video to learn more about our proposed new Liberal constitution, read our summary, and take a look at the new constitution itself. Both Anna and I look forward to continuing the conversation.

Canadians are counting on us to keep building, modernizing, and opening up our movement, and we won’t let them down.

Thank you for your support,

Justin Trudeau
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada