Letter from Matt Certosimo

Dear fellow Liberals,

The Liberal Party of Canada has to give Canadians a reason to be a Liberal. I believe a first step towards that goal is to renew the Membership Promise between our Party and each member. I also believe that membership in our party should be free, and that we should resist the call to create two-tiered membership.

At its core, we must trust the truly democratic principle that places our members front and centre in directing our future. To each member, we make that promise – we must keep it.

We must recruit more members – from all regions, ages and backgrounds. Our Party must be as diverse as the great country we want to lead. But, to get and keep members requires an effective and trustworthy organization, particularly in the ways we connect, engage and inspire Canadians.

That’s the kind of membership I want to help us build.

As membership secretary, I would pursue three broad goals, towards a renewed Membership Promise:

1. Connect: All 308 riding membership chairs, the Commissions, and the Young Liberals must be prominent during our drive forward. We must mutually reinforce each other’s efforts. I will find practical ways to connect our membership, at every level.To become a mass movement, our Party’s members have to take up the cause, with their neighbours, in their workplaces, online and in person. Each of us has a job. Each member can make a difference. We have to have the tools to do it.
2. Engage:Membership must be open and accessible, and go beyond the card. Now, more than ever, we have to be truly engaged with all who wish to be included.Open membership in our Party that respects and builds upon the “membership promise” is, in my view, the way to engage Canadians. The best first step towards that goal is to make membership free.

   I will find a practical way to deliver a tangible welcome package to every member of our Party that defines the Membership Promise. With it, our Party will celebrate the new member’s arrival, while defining what it means to be a Liberal and how to fully engage in our Party.

3. Inspire: Our members must have a meaningful place in shaping our future, from policy to leadership. The answers are not found in the backrooms; the true inspiration for Liberalism is found in the dreams and aspirations of our members and their families. Given the opportunity to be national membership secretary, ensuring that our Party respects and fully embraces the democratic rights of our members is at the core of the Membership Promise and will be my daily motivation.

Having served as legal counsel to the Party, as a neutral credentials chair at a Leadership Convention and AGM’s, and as the chief agent to leadership candidates, my 25 years of work has led me to believe this: we must move forward together to build trust within the Party, and with Canadians.

I grew up in a small town, and now live with my wife and daughters in Dufferin-Caledon. On a very personal level, I believe that to win back the country we have to win back ridings like mine. At this stage in our Party’s history, the role of national membership secretary is central and our ability to connect, engage and inspire will lead to a true renewal of our Membership Promise.

I would like to help with the rebuilding, and I ask for your support.

Matt Certosimo