It’s been 20 years since the Ontario Liberal Party last went from the opposition benches to the cabinet table. In that time, we’ve failed to invite new people in order to grow our movement.

The party that was the first to ever earn more than two million votes on Election Day is now the party that has fallen short of reaching double digits in the Legislature two elections in a row.

When corporate and union political donations were banned and individual contributions were capped, our party failed to pivot or to plan. The last two campaigns were significantly funded by election subsidies that are set to expire on December 31, 2024. 

Depending on local factors, most PLAs will need to raise between $60,000 and $100,000 in order to fund a winning campaign in their ridings. Yet almost every dollar a campaign spends is raised in the final six months before an election. We need to stop leaving money on the table. 

We’ve always been a party of volunteers. But over our years in government, the party started to lean on paid political staff to carry out campaign work instead of recruiting and training new local volunteers to deliver winning campaigns in every riding.

While I agree that we need to rebuild party headquarters and hire new field organizers, restoring staffing levels won’t be the silver bullet that wins us the next election. We need to stop limiting our ambitions as a party to the number of paid staff we can hire. Instead, we need staff to play a supportive training role within a much bigger volunteer-led and volunteer-driven movement.

20 years ago, we became the first provincial party to earn over two million votes on Election Day. Ever since, we’ve chased a shrinking base of one-time Liberals instead of working to expand the big red tent.

I believe we need a fundamental reset in our party’s culture in order to start building a movement that has something to offer every person in this province.

At our upcoming AGM in Hamilton, you and hundreds of other party members will make some very important decisions that will shape our party for years to come. 

One of those decisions is about picking the right person to serve as Party President. I’m running to be that person because I have a proven record of rebuilding after tough losses and am committed to transforming our party into a volunteer driven movement.

Many other important decisions will be made at the Constitutional Amendments session. The OLP Constitutional Committee has shared the list of amendments that will be put to a vote in March.

While party members have some important choices to make at the AGM, the job of the next Party President will begin the next day. The first and most important task for that person will be to repair the relationship between the party and members.

During the last election - and in the lead-up to it - many members felt abandoned by the central campaign. We can’t wait until we elect our next party leader to get election-ready or the final 28 days of a campaign to engage our volunteers. We need to start both right now.

There is just one month left until the AGM in Hamilton, and I wanted to reach out to give you an update about what I’m hearing from Liberals across the province.

This week, party members were focused on the leadership election thanks to the passing of the deadline to submit constitutional amendments and an explosion of media coverage about potential candidates. A lot of great debate has already been shared online, at PLA meetings, and everywhere Liberals gather. But I wanted you to hear directly from me about where I stand on these two issues and the leadership race in general.