the lambton compass -...

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Happy New Year Sarnia Lambton Liberals! 2016 is going to be an exciting year with our new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his “sunny ways”. We have already witnessed many remarkable changes; the swearing-in ceremony of November was open to the public; there is gender equality in Cabinet; the long form census was immediately reinstated; Syrian refugees are arriving in Canada; the Prime Minister attended four international summits where he was greeted enthusiastically by foreign leaders. Soon he and his wife will be guests of honour at a formal dinner at the White House in Washington. Yes, indeed, Canada is back! We in Sarnia Lambton can build on the great strides we made in the last election. We increased our vote by 2 ½ times and should be very proud of our candidate Dave McPhail and the campaign we ran. We now have three years and nine months to prepare to win in 2019! Let’s get started now! In this newsletter you will see that your board of directors has some ambitious plans. We are going to reach out to increase our membership and Victory Fund donors. We are in the process of planning an open town hall in the spring with a Cabinet member or Liberal MP. After all, we now have 184 to choose from! I would like to invite you to get involved by coming out to our pub nights and events, by contributing financially, writing a letter to the editor, encouraging a friend to become a member, or by joining one of our committees. Let’s all work together for an exciting 2016! Eileen Viola, President MEMBERSHIP: It’s that time of year to renew your membership in the Liberal Party of Canada. The Membership Committee will be contacting every member to confirm your email address and also advise you if your membership has not been renewed for 2016. Committee members are: Gary Martin, Sharon McPhail, Patrick Lai, Bob Sutton, Alex Palimaka, and Andrea Smythe. One of the key factors to have a local Liberal MP in Ottawa is to increase our membership numbers now and over the next 4 years. Be a part of the “Sunny Ways” and renew now. Go to Liberal.ca and renew online or contact Andrea at 519-867-2882 for a paper membership form. We also need your help to increase our membership this year. Please contact your family and friends and encourage them to become members. If you have ideas to share re successful membership drives, send your ideas to one of our committee members: Gary Martin [email protected] Sharon McPhail [email protected] Andrea Smythe [email protected] The Lambton Compass Charting a new course for Liberals in Sarnia-Lambton JANUARY 2016

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Page 1: The Lambton Compass - Sarnia—Lambtonsarnia-lambton.liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/748/2016/11/... · We in Sarnia Lambton can build on the great strides we made in the last

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Happy New Year Sarnia Lambton Liberals! 2016 is going to be an exciting year with our new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his “sunny ways”. We have already witnessed many remarkable changes; the swearing-in ceremony of November was open to the public; there is gender equality in Cabinet; the long form census was immediately reinstated; Syrian refugees are arriving in Canada; the Prime Minister attended four international summits where he was greeted enthusiastically by foreign leaders. Soon he and his wife will be guests of honour at a formal dinner at the White House in Washington. Yes, indeed, Canada is back!

We in Sarnia Lambton can build on the great strides we made in the last election. We increased our vote by 2 ½ times and should be very proud of our candidate Dave McPhail and the campaign we ran. We now have three years and nine months to prepare to win in 2019! Let’s get started now!

In this newsletter you will see that your board of directors has some ambitious plans. We are going to reach out to increase our membership and Victory Fund donors. We are in the process of planning an open town hall in the spring with a Cabinet member or Liberal MP. After all, we now have 184 to choose from!

I would like to invite you to get involved by coming out to our pub nights and events, by contributing financially, writing a letter to the editor, encouraging a friend to become a member, or by joining one of our committees. Let’s all work together for an exciting 2016!

Eileen Viola, President

MEMBERSHIP: It’s that time of year to renew your

membership in the Liberal Party of

Canada. The Membership Committee

will be contacting every member to

confirm your email address and also

advise you if your membership has not

been renewed for 2016.

Committee members are: Gary Martin,

Sharon McPhail, Patrick Lai, Bob

Sutton, Alex Palimaka, and Andrea

Smythe.

One of the key factors to have a local

Liberal MP in Ottawa is to increase our

membership numbers now and over

the next 4 years. Be a part of the

“Sunny Ways” and renew now.

Go to Liberal.ca and renew online or

contact Andrea at 519-867-2882 for a

paper membership form.

We also need your help to increase our

membership this year. Please contact

your family and friends and encourage

them to become members. If you have

ideas to share re successful

membership drives, send your ideas to

one of our committee members:

Gary Martin

[email protected]

Sharon McPhail

[email protected]

Andrea Smythe

[email protected]

The Lambton Compass Charting a new course for Liberals in Sarnia-Lambton JANUARY 2016

Page 2: The Lambton Compass - Sarnia—Lambtonsarnia-lambton.liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/748/2016/11/... · We in Sarnia Lambton can build on the great strides we made in the last

2015 CAMPAIGN - Vision into Action We believe that Canadians want to see a political process that

presents debate amongst candidates who provide clear and

readily available policy positions, and conduct themselves in a

manner that is respectful of the spirit of democracy. But winning

at all costs has been too much the tenor of recent political

campaigns, and it continues to be our goal to bring integrity back

to our democracy, and Liberal leadership back to Sarnia-Lambton.

Our candidate, our campaign managers, and every team member

in 2015 were committed to operating in a way that would reflect

integrity and re-engage our community in healthy democratic

process. We believe that this approach was in the spirit of

Canada’s character, and that

these efforts represented the

leading edge of an evolving

change in our political culture,

dramatically improving our

results compared to 2011.

Whether it was the preparation

of printed materials, scripts for

radio ads, or Dave McPhail’s

preparation for debates, the

goal was always guided by the

pr inciples of healthy

democracy. Solid and precise

policy statements were

provided, questions were

answered directly, and never

was any individual demeaned

in the process. Our highest

priority was to build a strategy

based on the Canadian values of fundamental respect, equality,

inclusiveness, and honesty. Our office staff, our canvassers at the

door and on the telephone, our sign installers, and our

researchers and writers all shared the priority of absolute respect

for our community neighbours, regardless of party membership.

As well, we valued and continue to value the strength of youth;

the seconder for Dave’s nomination, our campaign co-manager,

and our canvass coordinator were all under 25. They brought new

vigour and real optimism to our campaign…not to mention

tremendous organization.

The newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, Geoff

Regan, has already acknowledged that alternative party visions

can result in conflict and challenge. But he also notes that in spite

of strong feelings MP’s might have on issues, he will insist upon

greater respect one to another and will work towards renewed

regard for the House, the work it does, and those who do it. Our

Prime Minister has brought gender equity to cabinet, he will allow

parliamentary committee chairs to be elected, he will allow more free

votes, he will introduce a “prime minister’s” question period, and he

will enhance transparency with common, more detailed quarterly

expense reports and by opening up of the now secret all party Board of

Internal Economy.

While much of Canada has already embraced this new vision and

leadership, it will be our continuing focus to bring Sarnia-Lambton into

the 21st century with Liberal representation. We are conducting an

exhaustive debriefing process with separate teams to bring real

diversity to our learning. Through such efforts we will develop ways to

refine the process of our election

activities while maintaining the

vision of personal and political

integrity in every action. We do

believe that our guiding principles

were what enabled us to more

than double the Liberal vote in S-L

from the last election.

We had a candidate who listened

studiously, prepared exhaustively,

and personalized continuously; he

was abundantly human and

trusted completely the team that

supported him, as they trusted

him. And every team member in

every dimension of their roles was

committed to building a

foundation of democratic

integrity. We are determined to

do our part in rebuilding the culture of political process in Canada and

in Sarnia-Lambton in particular. We are not going away…we are just

getting started at bringing a better future to our community. We can

hold our heads high in the confidence that our vigorous and informative

campaign had integrity and respect at its very foundation.

Finally and most importantly, we want to thank every Liberal member

who donated time, funds, and often both, while providing tremendous

moral support in the process. Our gratitude will not wane as we build

for the next campaign together.

The Canadian spirit has revived in response to the leadership of Justin

Trudeau; and as former Prime Minister Nehru of India once said, “A

moment comes…when we step out from the old to the new…when the

soul of a nation…finds utterance.” We may be at that moment.

~ Bob Sutton ~

Page 3: The Lambton Compass - Sarnia—Lambtonsarnia-lambton.liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/748/2016/11/... · We in Sarnia Lambton can build on the great strides we made in the last

MESSAGE FROM DAVE An election campaign goes far beyond a candidate and what or

who that person may be. A campaign is a collection of people

from far and wide, from many walks of life and at various stages

in their lives. These are the people that make an election

campaign a good one. Our Sarnia Lambton 2015 Federal Liberal

Campaign was not only a good one but an outstanding

endeavour.

To avoid leaving someone out, and hurting feelings I will use no

names in this article but will refer to the work or part of the

campaign our many volunteers supported and helped to make it

be so successful.

We had a wonderful location for

our Campaign Office. The team that

searched the area far and wide did

an excellent job of selecting an

excellent place from which to

centre the campaign activities. The

set up and organization of the

office was outstanding and almost

without question there was always

a buzz of activity which was easily

seen when one entered the office.

Whether it was a meeting taking

place, signs being organized for

installation, telephone contacts

being made, or the phone being

answered professionally and

politely, people constantly

commented that there was always

a buzz of activity and excitement

throughout the office. The energy

was infectious for all who experienced this location and it showed

the organization personified that the Campaign Co-Chairs and the

Leadership Team brought to the table.

The campaign utilized very successful computer programs that

provided a depth and wealth of invaluable information for the

campaign workers for the 2015 campaign and for future

campaigns. Data was entered daily giving us very detailed and

accurate information. To accomplish this required many people

who volunteered their time and talents for the Liberal Cause.

Much of the data that was gathered, analyzed and saved was the

result of almost 5 months of daily door to door canvassing and

volunteer phone calls from the office and the homes of the

volunteers. Teams of canvassers went out daily and often twice

daily to talk to people at their doorsteps. The canvassers, as all of

our volunteers cannot be thanked enough for their unwavering

devotion. We made contacts at 45,000 homes by foot and by phone.

We also had paid calls made to locations or to make a second contact;

thus, we reached out to almost 100,000 homes. It was this work that

allowed the Sarnia-Lambton Liberal Team to gather 2.5 times the votes

from recent elections. The team more than doubled the percentage of

the previous vote and this occurred with many more votes being cast

on our riding from earlier times.

Now the result of the election was not what we had hoped it would be.

The Get Out the Vote Programme, the Canvassing and all of the work

collectively completed was indeed successful.

Were we all disappointed? To say otherwise would not be an honest

response… We ALL wanted to win and

to have a seat at the Government Table

in Ottawa That was not to be this time.

But this is not the end. It is the

beginning of the Liberal return.

It must be a continuation. We need to

act now to keep the momentum going

and to be ready for the beginning of the

next campaign which will start on or

about November 2018. In the Sarnia-

Lambton riding we must keep adding

volunteers in preparation for our next

campaign. We need to continually grow

the Association Membership so that we

are all on board to hit the ground

running. We need to assess what went

well and what might be improved for

the next campaign. We need to know

that in a single e-mail or phone tree

message we can have 10's of volunteers

ready to go immediately.

The election team ran a great campaign and we should be proud of the

very positive campaign that stuck to issues, policies and comments. At

no time did we take personal attacks at other candidates. Our campaign

set the bar extremely high going forward not only for our own local

Liberal Association , but forms an excellent blueprint for others to

follow so they too can deal with democracy appropriately and not be

snipers or bushwhackers of people trying to do the "right thing".

This is the hope we have as our Parliament moves forward and let us as

proud Canadians have a government that is policy and legislation based

and not merely opposed to everything because it is another party's

position.

~ Dave McPhail ~

Page 4: The Lambton Compass - Sarnia—Lambtonsarnia-lambton.liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/748/2016/11/... · We in Sarnia Lambton can build on the great strides we made in the last

On October 19th, 2015, we were reminded that the Canadian electorate’s appetite for change is a powerful force. The Liberal Party offered genuine change and when the Canadian people became comfortable that Justin Trudeau was ready, the Liberal message began to resonate across the country.

Although the voters of Sarnia-Lambton were not ready to support the Liberal party at this time, we can be very proud of the important fact that voter turnout was up dramatically and we more than doubled our vote locally over 2011 while Conservative Party support declined and the NDP crashed nationally.

We need to thank Dave McPhail for representing us with skill and honour. We need to thank the campaign co-chairs for leading us into the new age of professional campaigns and, we need to thank our many volunteers and donors for their loyalty, hard work, generosity and support.

With the start of 2016, the wisdom of Canadian voters who were focused on jobs and the economy during the campaign seems to have forecast recent headlines from around the

globe warning of potential economic turmoil. Stock markets have seen dramatic declines and the Canadian dollar has been flirting with 12 year lows. The Liberal message of “hope and hard work” is even more relevant today than it was when we cast our ballots in October. We need investment in infrastructure, in new technologies and in Canadians.

Locally, we need you to think about investment in our Association. We are thankful for your continued support as we prepare for the next federal election in 2019!

A fundamental part of any election readiness plan is our finances. The unprecedented 11 week federal election campaign in 2015 was expensive but WE WERE PREPARED and we were able to mount a very competitive campaign because of that ongoing support. Starting our fundraising efforts NOW will allow us to meet and hopefully exceed our financial goals by 2019.

So we thank you again for your ongoing support and would respectfully ask you to consider:

Renewing your membership in the Liberal Party

If you are not a member of “Victory Fund” please consider signing up

If you are a monthly Victory Fund donor please consider increasing your annual donation keeping in mind that 1) a $240 annual contribution qualifies you for Mackenzie Club membership and 2) that you get a 75% Tax Credit for the first $400 dollars you donate. That means that a $400 donation costs you only $100 after your $300 Tax Credit.

And finally please consider an annual donation to help us build our resources for 2019

LET’S GET STARTED !!!!

~ Alex and Joe ~

THE BACK PAGE

Websites:

http://sarnia-lambton.liberal.ca

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/SLFedLiberals

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/SLFedLiberals

CHECK US OUT ONLINE:

POLICY COMMITTEE

Our committee is comprised of myself as

Chair, and Jack Smith, Patrick Lai, Bernard

Hendrickson, Kim Fyfe, Raj Seth.

President Eileen Viola is an ex-officio

member. We have had one meeting and

have another scheduled for February 10.

We are exploring three policy areas on

which to prepare positions that then

need to be approved by the Executive

Committee. Areas under consideration

are Electoral Reform to the first-past-the-

post system, access to Via Rail services

and the expansion of Broadband

availability in the rural parts of the

county.

Electoral Reform is the priority issue

since it was a high profile Liberal promise

during the 2015 election campaign.

Patrick Lai is doing research on ranked

ballots and proportional representation

that we will examine at our next meeting.

Any member of SLFLA interested in these

or other policy matters is welcome to

participate as a Committee member.

Contact Vernon Chiles at 519.542.9833 or

[email protected]