the lambton compass -...
Post on 09-May-2018
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Happy New Year Sarnia Lambton Liberals! 2016 is going to be an exciting year with our new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his “sunny ways”. We have already witnessed many remarkable changes; the swearing-in ceremony of November was open to the public; there is gender equality in Cabinet; the long form census was immediately reinstated; Syrian refugees are arriving in Canada; the Prime Minister attended four international summits where he was greeted enthusiastically by foreign leaders. Soon he and his wife will be guests of honour at a formal dinner at the White House in Washington. Yes, indeed, Canada is back!
We in Sarnia Lambton can build on the great strides we made in the last election. We increased our vote by 2 ½ times and should be very proud of our candidate Dave McPhail and the campaign we ran. We now have three years and nine months to prepare to win in 2019! Let’s get started now!
In this newsletter you will see that your board of directors has some ambitious plans. We are going to reach out to increase our membership and Victory Fund donors. We are in the process of planning an open town hall in the spring with a Cabinet member or Liberal MP. After all, we now have 184 to choose from!
I would like to invite you to get involved by coming out to our pub nights and events, by contributing financially, writing a letter to the editor, encouraging a friend to become a member, or by joining one of our committees. Let’s all work together for an exciting 2016!
Eileen Viola, President
MEMBERSHIP: It’s that time of year to renew your
membership in the Liberal Party of
Canada. The Membership Committee
will be contacting every member to
confirm your email address and also
advise you if your membership has not
been renewed for 2016.
Committee members are: Gary Martin,
Sharon McPhail, Patrick Lai, Bob
Sutton, Alex Palimaka, and Andrea
Smythe.
One of the key factors to have a local
Liberal MP in Ottawa is to increase our
membership numbers now and over
the next 4 years. Be a part of the
“Sunny Ways” and renew now.
Go to Liberal.ca and renew online or
contact Andrea at 519-867-2882 for a
paper membership form.
We also need your help to increase our
membership this year. Please contact
your family and friends and encourage
them to become members. If you have
ideas to share re successful
membership drives, send your ideas to
one of our committee members:
Gary Martin
gmartin00@hotmail.com
Sharon McPhail
sharonm@boatcan.com
Andrea Smythe
nanasmythe@live.ca
The Lambton Compass Charting a new course for Liberals in Sarnia-Lambton JANUARY 2016
2015 CAMPAIGN - Vision into Action We believe that Canadians want to see a political process that
presents debate amongst candidates who provide clear and
readily available policy positions, and conduct themselves in a
manner that is respectful of the spirit of democracy. But winning
at all costs has been too much the tenor of recent political
campaigns, and it continues to be our goal to bring integrity back
to our democracy, and Liberal leadership back to Sarnia-Lambton.
Our candidate, our campaign managers, and every team member
in 2015 were committed to operating in a way that would reflect
integrity and re-engage our community in healthy democratic
process. We believe that this approach was in the spirit of
Canada’s character, and that
these efforts represented the
leading edge of an evolving
change in our political culture,
dramatically improving our
results compared to 2011.
Whether it was the preparation
of printed materials, scripts for
radio ads, or Dave McPhail’s
preparation for debates, the
goal was always guided by the
pr inciples of healthy
democracy. Solid and precise
policy statements were
provided, questions were
answered directly, and never
was any individual demeaned
in the process. Our highest
priority was to build a strategy
based on the Canadian values of fundamental respect, equality,
inclusiveness, and honesty. Our office staff, our canvassers at the
door and on the telephone, our sign installers, and our
researchers and writers all shared the priority of absolute respect
for our community neighbours, regardless of party membership.
As well, we valued and continue to value the strength of youth;
the seconder for Dave’s nomination, our campaign co-manager,
and our canvass coordinator were all under 25. They brought new
vigour and real optimism to our campaign…not to mention
tremendous organization.
The newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, Geoff
Regan, has already acknowledged that alternative party visions
can result in conflict and challenge. But he also notes that in spite
of strong feelings MP’s might have on issues, he will insist upon
greater respect one to another and will work towards renewed
regard for the House, the work it does, and those who do it. Our
Prime Minister has brought gender equity to cabinet, he will allow
parliamentary committee chairs to be elected, he will allow more free
votes, he will introduce a “prime minister’s” question period, and he
will enhance transparency with common, more detailed quarterly
expense reports and by opening up of the now secret all party Board of
Internal Economy.
While much of Canada has already embraced this new vision and
leadership, it will be our continuing focus to bring Sarnia-Lambton into
the 21st century with Liberal representation. We are conducting an
exhaustive debriefing process with separate teams to bring real
diversity to our learning. Through such efforts we will develop ways to
refine the process of our election
activities while maintaining the
vision of personal and political
integrity in every action. We do
believe that our guiding principles
were what enabled us to more
than double the Liberal vote in S-L
from the last election.
We had a candidate who listened
studiously, prepared exhaustively,
and personalized continuously; he
was abundantly human and
trusted completely the team that
supported him, as they trusted
him. And every team member in
every dimension of their roles was
committed to building a
foundation of democratic
integrity. We are determined to
do our part in rebuilding the culture of political process in Canada and
in Sarnia-Lambton in particular. We are not going away…we are just
getting started at bringing a better future to our community. We can
hold our heads high in the confidence that our vigorous and informative
campaign had integrity and respect at its very foundation.
Finally and most importantly, we want to thank every Liberal member
who donated time, funds, and often both, while providing tremendous
moral support in the process. Our gratitude will not wane as we build
for the next campaign together.
The Canadian spirit has revived in response to the leadership of Justin
Trudeau; and as former Prime Minister Nehru of India once said, “A
moment comes…when we step out from the old to the new…when the
soul of a nation…finds utterance.” We may be at that moment.
~ Bob Sutton ~
MESSAGE FROM DAVE An election campaign goes far beyond a candidate and what or
who that person may be. A campaign is a collection of people
from far and wide, from many walks of life and at various stages
in their lives. These are the people that make an election
campaign a good one. Our Sarnia Lambton 2015 Federal Liberal
Campaign was not only a good one but an outstanding
endeavour.
To avoid leaving someone out, and hurting feelings I will use no
names in this article but will refer to the work or part of the
campaign our many volunteers supported and helped to make it
be so successful.
We had a wonderful location for
our Campaign Office. The team that
searched the area far and wide did
an excellent job of selecting an
excellent place from which to
centre the campaign activities. The
set up and organization of the
office was outstanding and almost
without question there was always
a buzz of activity which was easily
seen when one entered the office.
Whether it was a meeting taking
place, signs being organized for
installation, telephone contacts
being made, or the phone being
answered professionally and
politely, people constantly
commented that there was always
a buzz of activity and excitement
throughout the office. The energy
was infectious for all who experienced this location and it showed
the organization personified that the Campaign Co-Chairs and the
Leadership Team brought to the table.
The campaign utilized very successful computer programs that
provided a depth and wealth of invaluable information for the
campaign workers for the 2015 campaign and for future
campaigns. Data was entered daily giving us very detailed and
accurate information. To accomplish this required many people
who volunteered their time and talents for the Liberal Cause.
Much of the data that was gathered, analyzed and saved was the
result of almost 5 months of daily door to door canvassing and
volunteer phone calls from the office and the homes of the
volunteers. Teams of canvassers went out daily and often twice
daily to talk to people at their doorsteps. The canvassers, as all of
our volunteers cannot be thanked enough for their unwavering
devotion. We made contacts at 45,000 homes by foot and by phone.
We also had paid calls made to locations or to make a second contact;
thus, we reached out to almost 100,000 homes. It was this work that
allowed the Sarnia-Lambton Liberal Team to gather 2.5 times the votes
from recent elections. The team more than doubled the percentage of
the previous vote and this occurred with many more votes being cast
on our riding from earlier times.
Now the result of the election was not what we had hoped it would be.
The Get Out the Vote Programme, the Canvassing and all of the work
collectively completed was indeed successful.
Were we all disappointed? To say otherwise would not be an honest
response… We ALL wanted to win and
to have a seat at the Government Table
in Ottawa That was not to be this time.
But this is not the end. It is the
beginning of the Liberal return.
It must be a continuation. We need to
act now to keep the momentum going
and to be ready for the beginning of the
next campaign which will start on or
about November 2018. In the Sarnia-
Lambton riding we must keep adding
volunteers in preparation for our next
campaign. We need to continually grow
the Association Membership so that we
are all on board to hit the ground
running. We need to assess what went
well and what might be improved for
the next campaign. We need to know
that in a single e-mail or phone tree
message we can have 10's of volunteers
ready to go immediately.
The election team ran a great campaign and we should be proud of the
very positive campaign that stuck to issues, policies and comments. At
no time did we take personal attacks at other candidates. Our campaign
set the bar extremely high going forward not only for our own local
Liberal Association , but forms an excellent blueprint for others to
follow so they too can deal with democracy appropriately and not be
snipers or bushwhackers of people trying to do the "right thing".
This is the hope we have as our Parliament moves forward and let us as
proud Canadians have a government that is policy and legislation based
and not merely opposed to everything because it is another party's
position.
~ Dave McPhail ~
On October 19th, 2015, we were reminded that the Canadian electorate’s appetite for change is a powerful force. The Liberal Party offered genuine change and when the Canadian people became comfortable that Justin Trudeau was ready, the Liberal message began to resonate across the country.
Although the voters of Sarnia-Lambton were not ready to support the Liberal party at this time, we can be very proud of the important fact that voter turnout was up dramatically and we more than doubled our vote locally over 2011 while Conservative Party support declined and the NDP crashed nationally.
We need to thank Dave McPhail for representing us with skill and honour. We need to thank the campaign co-chairs for leading us into the new age of professional campaigns and, we need to thank our many volunteers and donors for their loyalty, hard work, generosity and support.
With the start of 2016, the wisdom of Canadian voters who were focused on jobs and the economy during the campaign seems to have forecast recent headlines from around the
globe warning of potential economic turmoil. Stock markets have seen dramatic declines and the Canadian dollar has been flirting with 12 year lows. The Liberal message of “hope and hard work” is even more relevant today than it was when we cast our ballots in October. We need investment in infrastructure, in new technologies and in Canadians.
Locally, we need you to think about investment in our Association. We are thankful for your continued support as we prepare for the next federal election in 2019!
A fundamental part of any election readiness plan is our finances. The unprecedented 11 week federal election campaign in 2015 was expensive but WE WERE PREPARED and we were able to mount a very competitive campaign because of that ongoing support. Starting our fundraising efforts NOW will allow us to meet and hopefully exceed our financial goals by 2019.
So we thank you again for your ongoing support and would respectfully ask you to consider:
Renewing your membership in the Liberal Party
If you are not a member of “Victory Fund” please consider signing up
If you are a monthly Victory Fund donor please consider increasing your annual donation keeping in mind that 1) a $240 annual contribution qualifies you for Mackenzie Club membership and 2) that you get a 75% Tax Credit for the first $400 dollars you donate. That means that a $400 donation costs you only $100 after your $300 Tax Credit.
And finally please consider an annual donation to help us build our resources for 2019
LET’S GET STARTED !!!!
~ Alex and Joe ~
THE BACK PAGE
Websites:
http://sarnia-lambton.liberal.ca
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SLFedLiberals
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/SLFedLiberals
CHECK US OUT ONLINE:
POLICY COMMITTEE
Our committee is comprised of myself as
Chair, and Jack Smith, Patrick Lai, Bernard
Hendrickson, Kim Fyfe, Raj Seth.
President Eileen Viola is an ex-officio
member. We have had one meeting and
have another scheduled for February 10.
We are exploring three policy areas on
which to prepare positions that then
need to be approved by the Executive
Committee. Areas under consideration
are Electoral Reform to the first-past-the-
post system, access to Via Rail services
and the expansion of Broadband
availability in the rural parts of the
county.
Electoral Reform is the priority issue
since it was a high profile Liberal promise
during the 2015 election campaign.
Patrick Lai is doing research on ranked
ballots and proportional representation
that we will examine at our next meeting.
Any member of SLFLA interested in these
or other policy matters is welcome to
participate as a Committee member.
Contact Vernon Chiles at 519.542.9833 or
vkchiles@gmail.com
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