Close to 300 Alberta Liberals - many of them new and/or young members - crammed into the Radisson Hotel today to elect a new executive and hear from Alberta Liberal Leader Dr. David Swann.
The biggest news of the day was Dr. Swann's crystal clear announcement that any notion of changing the name of the party is off the table, calling himself a proud Liberal ready to move forward under that proud tradition.
There was also a lot of good news on the fundraising front; in recent days, individual donors have come forth with donations worth multiple thousands of dollars, on top of a rising wave of donations that have turned the tide on the staff and office front, allowing the party to keep operating smoothly for several months.
Most executive positions were contested by at least two candidates, an exciting renewal of interest. The winners:
President: Tony Sansotta
Secretary: Nancy Cavanaugh
Vice-President, Policy: Dr. Avalon Roberts
Vice-President, Communications: Jody MacPherson
Treasurer: Stephanie Fuehreur
(My apologies if I've misspelled any of those names.)
Finally, party members voted to extend membership eligibility to Albertans 14 years of age and up, down from 16, recognizing the growing number of young adults who have been coming forward to help the party.
At the risk of sounding partisan, I was genuinely excited by the level of energy and spirit shown at this meeting. Hundreds of people travelled from across the province to handle some important business, and Dr. Swann really shone as he outlined his vision for a healthy Alberta - I wish I had a transcript of his speech. Sylvia and I are both very glad to have attended.
4 comments:
We did a head count during David Swann's speech, and the numbers were actually around 380 or 390.
It was a great day for Liberalism.
Great recap Earl!
There sure was an energetic and positive electricity in the room.
Thanks for the head count Corey.
It was a great day for Liberalism, and also a great day for Democracy.
I would have suggested passage of a special resolution. Something like: "in the aftermath of all future election losses, any talk of party name change will be met with banishment from the party".
This sort of resolution will guarantee you an entirely new slate of candidates for every election.
This is indeed a great day for the PC party of Alberta.
Yay! More money into they system! Time for me to gin up some sort of retroactive invoice for services rendered! Baby needs a new copy of Fallout 3! I mean, a new pair of shoes!
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