A Plan to Bring Trust
Back to Queen's Park
Nate's Vision
“Trust is everything in our democracy, and Doug Ford has broken that trust. We will bring integrity to politics, and empower communities with strong local representation in our party and at Queen’s Park.”
“Our plan for democratic renewal will kickstart a meaningful process toward electoral reform, and it will give young people a stronger voice in our party at the same time as we crack down on improper lobbying and donor influence.”
Nate has a track record of principled advocacy, and support for democratic reform. He is also known for successful grassroots organizing, with a strong focus on youth.
Nate's Plan:
- Engage with and remain accountable to our grassroots by rebuilding riding associations, holding open and early nominations, establishing a Young Liberal internship program in every riding, and more.
- Empower communities and MPPs through freer votes in the legislature, independence in committee work, and decentralizing power.
- Reform our electoral system with a citizen’s assembly to change the voting system, ranked ballots for municipal elections, and by lowering the voting age to 16.
- Respect good governance with stronger anti-corruption measures, openness by default and public mandate letters, and greater collaboration with municipalities.
- Reform our campaign finance laws by reducing donation limits, ending improper donation bundling, and restoring the per-vote subsidy.
BACKGROUNDER
Trust is everything in our democracy.
Doug Ford has damaged trust. We need to build it back.
Integrity is Ford’s greatest weakness, and it can and should be our greatest strength.
Nate has a track record of principled advocacy and support for democratic reform. He is also known for successful grassroots organizing, with a strong focus on youth.
He will build on that track record and deliver democratic reform for Ontario.
Grassroots Engagement And Accountibility
Rebuild riding associations
We will strike a team within 50 days after the leadership to compile and share best practices, identify which riding associations need the most help, and support local grassroots outreach and fundraising through the Liberal Future Fund.
We will provide additional dedicated staff support to riding associations, and improve how we recognize and reward volunteerism.
Open, early, fair and competitive nominations
We will hold open and competitive nominations. We will also make a concerted effort to open early nominations, with a particular focus on rural and northern ridings. All nominations will be opened at least one year prior to the next general election. The leader will appoint up to 5 candidates to ensure a diverse roster of candidates, or for matters of electoral urgency (i.e. illness or death of candidate).
We will bring in new rules to extend Elections Ontario’s oversight of nomination elections.
Provide nomination contest training
We want more people from all walks of life to see politics as an opportunity to make a difference. We will recruit contestants with diverse backgrounds, and provide hands-on training and a best practice guide for nominations.
Support for Young Liberals
We will support the establishment of a Young Liberal internship program in every riding association and at the central party office.
A serious grassroots policy process
We will host a policy convention every two years, including one before the next election.
Empower Communities and MPPs
At the Hamilton convention in March, Nate led a policy resolution to ensure that the next leader meets with riding association presidents on a regional basis every year. As leader, he will further empower communities by empowering their representatives at Queen’s Park.
Freer votes in the legislature
MPPs will be free to vote in a manner that best represents their communities and their conscience, except with respect to platform promises, traditional confidence matters like the budget, and human rights / Charter rights issues.
Independence in committee work
We will change the culture at Queen’s Park to empower committees to better hold the government accountable.
Decentralize power
We will reduce the power of the Premier’s office, restore a greater sense of ministerial responsibility, and give the Speaker greater responsibility.
Electoral Reform
Nate has a track record of supporting electoral reform in Parliament, and he will deliver electoral reform for Ontario.
Citizens’ assembly on electoral reform
Every vote should count, and our representative democracy should be more representative of where we live. We will establish a citizens’ assembly and take a collaborative and good faith approach across party lines to implement its recommendations.
Restore ranked ballots for municipal elections
We will immediately restore this option for municipalities and reverse the change Ford snuck into an unrelated omnibus bill.
Expand the right to vote to citizens 16 years of age
We will follow in the footsteps of Austria and Scotland and lower the voting age to 16.
Reduce waste in elections
We will review the use of plastic campaign signage and put rules in place to limit or prohibit their use.
Respect Good Governance
Commitment not to use the notwithstanding clause
We will never use the notwithstanding clause to limit minority rights or to undermine collective bargaining rights.
Respect for municipalities
We will work in partnership with municipalities. Where we will take greater leadership, such as on housing, we will do so with clear rules that municipalities can understand in advance and plan for.
Strengthen accountability and anti-corruption measures
We will improve the powers of government watchdogs, increase penalties for ethics violations, and tighten lobbying rules.
Public mandate letters and open by default
We will publish all mandate letters proactively and review and improve access to information laws to ensure transparency.
Campaign Finance Reform
In the wake of the Greenbelt scandal and Ford’s closeness to big developer friends, we will introduce anti-corruption legislation to reform campaign finance.
Reduce the donation limit to match the federal rules
We will reverse Ford’s changes that stack the deck in favour of wealthier pockets, and apply the same limits to party elections.
End improper bundling
We will reinstate and expand declarations to support anti-bundling investigations, and empower Elections Ontario to better police this practice.
Restore the per-vote subsidy
We will help to pay for this change by eliminating tax credits for higher-value donations.
End loopholes before candidate registration
we will require that any fundraising for political purposes, over a de minimis amount, be disclosed to Elections Ontario.
