The races for the Liberal and NDP leaderships have been a boon for local constituency associations with both parties’ local wings reporting a renewed interest.
According to the NDP constitution, individuals were required to renew their NDP memberships or purchase a new one prior to Jan. 17 in order to be eligible to vote for the party’s new leader.
That garnered some interest and what’s spurring people on now, says Larry Day, vice-president of the Cariboo Chilcotin NDP constituency association, is former MLA Charlie Wyse’s announcement of his intent to serve as an NDP candidate in the next election.
There are now between 150 and 200 members, says Day.
“That’s what happens,” Day says. “Whenever there’s any sort of changes membership always goes up.
“All parties experience that.”
The Cariboo Chilcotin Liberal constituency association’s membership rolls are still flush from 2009 when candidates Donna Barnett and Scott Nelson battled it out for the right to represent the party in the Cariboo Chilcotin.
Bill Carruthers is the president of the Cariboo Chilcotin B.C. Liberal constituency association.
He says there are 30 to 40 people who have joined the association since the leadership race began.
Feb. 4 was the cutoff for new members to participate in the Feb. 26 leadership vote. The association now has more than 1,400 members.
Under the party’s current voting system of one member, one vote, the local constituency would have had more influence than smaller constituencies in deciding a new leader.
To counter the perception that party leaders are decided by the Lower Mainland vote by virtue of its population, on Feb. 12 members will vote on a new system that would give each of the province’s 85 constituencies a total of 100 votes.
On voting day each member votes and those votes are assigned to the candidates on a proportional basis.
“This is an attempt to balance the Lower Mainland out against the Interior so that the Interior feels they have more equitable participation,” Carruthers says.
“I think it’s excellent.”