John Lennard for YLC President

We've heard a lot of talk recently about One Member, One Vote. It seems my recent blog post really struck a chord!

Quite a few Young Liberals believe the formula proposed by the Party National Executive inadequately protects the voice of youth. As you may be aware, youth are guaranteed a certain percentage of delegates to national conventions - currently in the 27-30% range. If we do away with the convention system, some fear our collective influence will diminish considerably. They argue that the Party will become less progressive, youth will become marginalized, nobody will listen to our issues, and the YLC will just fade, fade, fade away.

And so, they say, we need to amend the proposed OMOV to include a 25% youth quota, thus guaranteeing our influence. Failing that, it seems, they will vote against OMOV.

Let me be clear: Amendment or no amendment, I will be voting in favour of One Member, One Vote at convention. And I encourage everyone else to do so, as well. For me, it's about making sure the Liberal Party is a Party built for everyone. Every single Liberal must have a say, a voice and a vote. This fundamental democratic principle is too important to let slip away.

I take the issue of youth representation very seriously. I stood up in Edmonton, Halifax, Laval and Toronto and urged the Party to respect the contribution Young Liberals make. I showed up to the National Executive meeting last weekend in Montreal to listen, learn and make my case for youth participation. For months, I have contributed ideas on EnFamille on party reform and the role of young people. I'll continue to do all of these things, both as YLC President and as a Young Liberal volunteer.

Having travelled the country and met with countless party members, I am convinced, now more than ever, that the best way to guarantee youth influence within the Party is to grow our active membership. On leadership selection, we could settle for an artificial quota, be it 25% (as suggested), or 30% (as we have now), or 33% (as we had when I first joined the Party ten years ago). But nothing beats a robust organization with an engaged and growing membership to back us up. Membership can have a real influence on the party at all levels, and as Young Liberals, we need to seriously punch above our weight.

And so the question I have for Young Liberals is this: What would it take for the YLC to double its membership?

What will it take in terms of policy development? As a young gay man, I proudly stood up for same-sex marriage at the 2005 biennial convention in Ottawa. Four years later, it's time for us to think about new progressive policies by actually listening to what young people have to say. Our next VP Policy needs to be far more active in designing a broad, national policy process that breaks down barriers and encourages everyone - current party members and soon-to-be party members - to have a voice. Relevant policies will help us grow our base.

What will it take in terms of outreach? I'm proud to have met with numerous cultural, community and issues groups during my campaign. The YLC can't survive if we remain an inwardly-focused organization. We need to be far more active in building the Young Liberal network - and encouraging Young Liberals to build their own personal networks, too. Peer-to-peer outreach will help us grow our base.

What will it take in terms of organization in rural areas? What will it take in terms of communication, both horizontal and vertical, online and offline? What will it take in terms of fundraising? The answers to all these questions - backed by a strategic action plan to mark our progress and get results - will help make the Liberal Party more relevant to youth, the YLC more relevant to the Party, and Young Liberals and even more influential in the entire process. 

(By the way, if we doubled our membership, imagine how many Young Liberal riding presidents we could have? Imagine how many Young Liberal candidates we could nominate? And if we REALLY took our role as leaders of a national youth movement seriously, imagine how many Young Liberal MPs we could elect?)

The problems the Liberal Party is facing - in reaching out to Canadians, in listening to Party members, in building a strong organization - are real. They're urgent, and they're not going away any time soon unless we start changing the way we do politics. Young Liberals need to lead the way. We need to lead the way in supporting OMOV, and we need to lead the way in growing our membership. The Liberal Party will always be progressive if we, as a youth wing, constantly focus on growing our active base. Youth will never be marginalized if we punch above our weight with real numbers. No one will be able to ignore our ideas if our members have real influence, not just every couple of years, but all the time, and throughout the Party. And so at the very least, we need to double our membership. I'd personally like to see it triple, or quadruple, or even reach 100,000. But we have to start somewhere. So let's get on with it!