Liberals are making a mistake in Outremont

I sincerely hope Michael Ignatieff will reconsider his decision, and allow Martin Cauchon to contest the Liberal nomination in Outremont. Cauchon is the kind of person we need on the Liberal team, and sidelining him is a mistake:

Quebec politics have always puzzled me and Quebec Liberal politics have always infuriated me. And I'm feeling both emotions the more I read about how the Liberal Party is blocking popular former MP and cabinet minister Martin Cauchon from even seeking the Liberal nomination in the riding of Outremont.
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Scott Tribe, Steve V., John Lennard and Dan Arnold have also written on the topic.

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Cauchon favours OMOV?

In an article today about former Liberal cabinet minister Martin Cauchon’s decision not to seek the Liberal leadership, he makes the following comments that would seem to indicate his support for moving to a one member, one vote (OMOV) system for the Liberal leadership:

Cauchon commended the party's national executive for devising ``fair and equitable'' rules for the leadership process "as it exists today.''

But he said the process of choosing delegates to elect a leader at a convention, which favours those with organizational prowess, is "antiquated.'' He argued that the process needs to be changed so that it gives "as many Liberals as possible a voice in choosing their leader.''

"As a Quebecer who has bled Liberal red since the age of 16, I believe we need more Liberals everywhere across the country. No place should be left behind in our rebuilding process,'' Cauchon said.

Even though he’s not running, I hope Martin will still be active in advocacy of the sort of party reform he argues well for here.

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