 It’s a Martin innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvasion!
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From September 19 to 21, the Liberal Party of Canada elected delegates to the November convention that will choose between Paul Martin and Sheila Copps for the party's leadership. September 19 was reserved for the election of delegates from school clubs and women's clubs. The school clubs are campus-specific entities composed of Young Liberals-party members 25 years and younger-who are pursuing post-secondary education.
By the close of the weekend, Martin had 3,857 delegates, leaving Copps with 438.
"This is the first election for youth clubs in a long time," said Isabella Tirelli, president of Young Liberals of Canada (Quebec). "Hopefully, people will understand that the youth vote concerns more people."
It appeared that the restrictive two-tiered representative system is failing to stop apathy from sinking its grip into the hearts of Canada's youth. The polls opened at 6:00 pm; by 8:30 pm only 17 Young Liberals from 15 clubs had shown up to elect delegates. Some clubs saw no point in everyone going out of their way to facilitate the inevitable, a source said.
In the final hour of the election, the Young Liberals organized runners to go pick up more voters.
In the end, however, only 40 Quebec Young Liberals voted for school club delegates, Martin winning 96 per cent of the Quebec youth vote.
McGill's own club was excluded from the process altogether, since Liberal McGill failed to submit a complete list of members and their contact information before the June 20 deadline.
Despite the seeming inevitability of Martin's victory, Tirelli said, the November convention remains important for the debate between the two candidates.
"It's important... that they both have different ideas and bring them to the table and discuss them," she said.
What all this may add up to, though, is Canadians being duped out of their right to choose come the next election.
Martin's critics such as Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party, said that Martin's September 18 speech to the Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain was the most conservative he had ever heard from a Liberal politician.
Moreover, Copps is being pressured to drop out of the race altogether, and the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance are presently negotiating a possible merger, an effort to "unite the right."
The particulars of Martin's platform are still hazy, but it remains to be seen just how effective a right-wing opposition can be.
