My good friend Gary Gladstone, principal consultant at Gladstone Consulting, partner from time to time on fundraising and political campaigns. Gary is a leader in this field and known for excellence in writing Trillium grants. Check out this fine article about grant writing from Gladstone Consulting. The tips are great and will increase the quality of any grant application. Good job, Gary.   Continue reading

This afternoon, Finance Minister Joe Oliver will deliver what may be the final budget of the Harper Government. This will be an election budget, structured to optimize the chances that the Conservative win the next election, whether held in October or earlier. Despite the tradition of budget secrecy, details have been leaking for weeks. Expected in the budget are: A small budgetary surplus for this fiscal year; Income splitting More paid time off to help care for dying family members; Doubled contribution limits to tax-free savings accounts; Boosts to the Universal Child Care Benefit and the Child Fitness Tax Credit 8627 Continue reading

For all the issues around Open Nominations, the idea itself is not a bad one. The idea that candidates should weather a nomination process brings significant advantages. It weeds out those who cannot develop a loyal support base and those who cannot raise the funds needed to run a nomination and, later, an election. A political party, however, cannot function with full transparency and openness. It' is an organization whose sole function is to build the foundation for the winning of elections. Its job is to find the best candidate for each riding and to build as large a universe of donors and volunteers as it can.So how do we improve the process for next time? For all the issues around Open Nominations, the idea is not a bad one.F1605 Continue reading

As referenced in an earlier blog, Liberal Party "open nominations" has created issues this promise inside and outside of the party. Liberals both new and well-weathered, have been asking the same question, "WTF is going on?" The idea of open, grassroots candidate nominations applying to every riding sounds like a great idea. It fit well within the idea of the Liberal Party as a national movement. Still, admittedly in hindsight, the problems were obvious. 2108 Continue reading

Another article, this time by Jane Taber in the Globe and Mail, about Liberal Party "open nominations" and the issues this promise has created, inside and outside of the party. Over the last year Liberals both new and well-weathered, have been asking the same question, "WTF is going on?" I was talking with a super-dedicated Liberal last week and the discussion turned to open nominations. She was perplexed why Justin made this commitment and why he stuck to it. 7033 Continue reading