Ottawa

Come one, come all

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae offers a kind word for a move toward open primaries.

Mr. Rae kicked off the debate with a frank assessment of the party’s failings. But he also had some suggestions about how Liberals can pick themselves up off the mat and become contenders for power once again, including allowing the “broader electorate,” not just party members, to choose the next leader and candidates for the next election.

“A successful political party is not a debating society or a social club,” Mr. Rae told Liberals at a convention of the party’s British Columbia wing in Victoria.

Rob Silver, who has proposed open primaries for Liberal nominations in the past, notes a few other changes being considered, including the elimination of the Liberal leader’s power to appoint candidates and the elimination of the protection afforded to incumbent MPs.

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