Why are the vast majority of politically active (or
inactive) Manitobans so upset about the actions of their preferred party?
Simple, their old party is controlled by a very small group of self-interested
persons instead of by the very large group of interested persons. Manitoba
United rejects pure central command and control, replacing its with real
responsibility imbued within the wider membership.
Although you have seen populist upstarts in Saskatchewan (the Saskatchewan Party) and Alberta (the Wild Rose Party) and even in the USA (the Tea Party) for Manitobans, this is not the first experience with rejection of mainline parties. Several times we have elected non-aligned parties and leaders. A good example is Manitoba's Premier Bracken in the 1940s. In fact, a non aligned Farm party held the balance of power for a quite a number of years. Yes we have been upset with central command and control before and we did something about it.
ReplyDeleteAs parties and leaders become more entrenched there is a natural tendency to pull power into a central core. Right now you can see that Provincially in Selinger alienating his own back benchers and Katz, municipally, alienating everybody.
To protect against that problem Manitoba United needs to look at internal structures which help to insure centralizing is discouraged. Here are some we have talked about but perhaps readers would like to make some further comments.
1) Stop the arbitrary flow of riding money to the central party. Keep them a bit poor.
2)Make the most serious resolutions of the party binding on the executive and MLAs.
3)Stop muzzling the Caucus and treating them like children.
4)Operate regular constituency workshops to engage the public in the decision making process
5)Establish that the party leader is there to articulate policy - not to make it.
There is a need for a second comment post here to deal with one other aspect. Should Manitoba United proceed to a full party stage, the idea appears to be to make membership free. Now that does not mean that it is without meaning. Suggestions have been made that possibly three classes of membership might be available. This is quite unlike other parties.
ReplyDelete1) basic follower - will send info and can attend many events
2) basic member - must sign on to a core set of principles - can vote on all occasions (like AGM and riding meetings) where a vote is called for
3) enhanced member - has contributed time or money or both to the organization. Can be sought out for policy or opinion between meetings. Can vote similar to basic member. Will be recognized through some suitable display item like a lapel button. This is an idea borrowed from some fraternities and most boat clubs wherein there is an obligation to perform a certain amount of service during the year or pay a small fee in lieu of it.
This area probably needs some refinement and I may not have it quite right but for now at least it starts to show that organizers are serious about being different.