Earlier this week we learned that Brampton Mayor and former Conservative Party leadership contender had been fined $100,000 for breaking various rules in the contest for Leader including those related to the sale of memberships. 

The Toronto Star reported:

“His (Patrick Brown’s) team had said they sold over 150,000 cards. 

Data obtained by the Star shortly after the race ended suggested 62,000 memberships were sold directly through his website portal; Brown’s campaign has argued many more were sold directly through the party itself.

Among the issues uncovered by the party, however, were hundreds of memberships sold allegedly in violation of the rules.” 

Personally, I wouldn’t trust Patrick Brown as far as I could throw him so these revelations come as no surprise to me.

Utter madness

It is utter madness to allow aspiring Party leaders (and wannabe MPs and MPPs) to sell memberships in advance of the vote. There should be a cut-off date – perhaps 6 months before the contest – to ensure that only bona fide members of some standing vote and not the recently recruited.

I agree with Andrew Coyne who writes in this morning’s Globe and Mail:

“… a leader elected by the members is in practice accountable to no one. He isn’t even elected by the members, really, but rather by the tens of thousands of new members signed up in the course of the campaign for the sole purpose of voting for the candidate that recruited them, most of whom are never seen again.”

Rip Van Winkle parties

The deeper problem is that too many riding associations are shell organisations. Their memberships are tiny. They wake up at election times and go back to sleep again immediately afterwards. Their job done.

They should be a presence in the Town’s life all year round, attracting real members, shaping public opinion and doing their best to influence the local agenda on the things that matter.

The constant campaign

Instead of this, our MP and MPP fill the vacuum with a never-ending stream of taxpayer funded on-line advertising, day-in day-out, reminding us what (a) the Trudeau Government and (b) the Ford Government are doing for us. 

People for the most part don’t get involved in local politics. Less than 2 per cent of Canadians are members of a political party.

Which explains why candidates sell memberships to boost their chances of getting the Party nomination.

And if the new members are here today and gone tomorrow who cares?

Gordon Prentice 28 October 2022

Update on 31 May 2024: from the Toronto Star: Brown says he'll clear leadership bid debt