Proper Process and Transparency: Necessary for Renewal

Last week the Quebec Women's Liberal Commission passed a procedural resolution asking that all resolutions adopted by the Special General Counsel on October 21st be removed as LPCQ priority resolutions. The concern is not the content of the resolutions themselves - though some resolutions are more popular than others -but how this set of resolutions became a priority in the first place. The process is highly questionable and not transparent in the least.

Last year, the LPCQ enhanced its warchest by $250 a delegate at the LPCQ Biennial Policy Convention, held in Montreal in November. After months, sometimes years, of preparation of policy resolutions by standing commissions, riding associations and Liberal clubs, a final set was debated and prioritised in plenary. Those resolutions stood as priority LPCQ policy until they mysteriously vanished from the website two weeks ago.

The LPCQ constitution is clear: the convention is sovereign. Yet, somehow resolutions crafted over not more than three LPCQ 'policy committee' meetings and adopted by a special general counsel have been permitted to supersede policy legitmately passed in plenary by a large number of LPCQ members.

In yesterday's English and French language media, 2 members of the 'policy committee' went to great lengths to defend one particular resolution in order to give it and themselves legitimacy. Interestingly, other members of the same 'policy committee' questioned from the outset the committee's legitimacy in - and the propriety of - developing policy. One member protested vocally, but alas this was not recorded as the 'policy committee' did not take minutes. People were permitted (including one blogger) to show up at the last meeting to vote, when they had attended no previous meetings. If you have members of the body that brought us this policy questioning the body's very legitimacy, what does this say about the policy output?

And why should a small, transient group that met infrequently and was not transparent about its process have more power than the grassroots?

The majority of the Quebec leadership campaigns support the Women's Commission in this effort. If the LPCQ refuses to remove the resolutions and replace them with the legitimate 2005 resolutions, a motion will be brough to the floor. Clearly, this can be avoided and should be, however logic and politics don't always mix. If you support transparency in process and grassroots advocacy in the LPCQ, lend your signature to petitions that will be circulating before the Quebec Caucus meeting.