The tension was high on the floor at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the site of the old Maple Leaf Gardens, as more than 2,000 delegates to the Ontario Liberal leadership convention in 2013 awaited the results of the third and final round of voting.

When Kathleen Wynne was announced as the winner over Sandra Pupatello, delegates erupted in wild cheers. It was a dramatic victory for Wynne, who defeated Pupatello by a vote of 1,150 to 866, especially because Pupatello finished ahead of Wynne in the first round of voting.

Senior Liberals declared the exciting convention a huge success because it generated widespread enthusiasm among party loyalists and bolstered the party’s standings in the public opinion polls.

But the delegated convention also exposed the Liberals to serious criticism that the way they select their leader is highly restrictive and a throwback to an era when backroom operatives and loyalists had a huge say in who headed the party.

It was especially evident at the 2013 convention when, even though the Liberals had 44,421 members, barely 2,000 got the chance to vote on the final ballot to decide the ultimate winner.

Today, the Ontario Liberals are the only major party in Canada that still clings to that old style of a high-profile delegated convention.

That may be about to change though, albeit over the objections of some Liberals who fear a new selection process may do more harm than good.

The drive to scrap the current system is being spearheaded by Mitzie Hunter, one of only seven remaining Liberal MPPs at Queen’s Park. She wants the party to switch to a one-member, one-vote system that the federal Liberals adopted in 2009. Hunter will propose a constitutional amendment at the Liberals’ annual general meeting in early June. Such an amendment requires a two-thirds majority to pass. If approved, the new system would be in place for the next leadership contest, expected in the spring of 2020.

Under the current system, some 1,700 delegates to the convention are chosen in riding elections. Another 420 ex-officio delegates, such as current and former MPPs and party officials, are automatically allowed to vote. Elected delegates are expected to vote on the first ballot for the candidate whose slate they ran on in their riding election. But they can vote for whichever candidate they want on subsequent ballots.

In an interview this week, Hunter, who is expected to run for the leadership, said she is finding eager audiences for her proposal across the province. “We must listen to our grassroots and let all our members have a direct say in our leadership choice,” she says. “It is time for us to move forward, to modernize our party.”

Proponents argue there are multiple benefits to such a system. First, every member is treated equally and can vote, usually electronically, on all ballots. Second, there’s no special status for party officials or insiders. Third, it’s easier to attract members if the party is seen as more open.

In Ontario, the Conservatives have used such a system since the late 1980s and the NDP went that route in 2007.

But there’s great reluctance to change among some party veterans, who believe a one-member, one-vote system leaves the party open to disproportionate influence by single-issue groups, such as happened with the religious right and its ability to get both Patrick Brown and then Doug Ford elected to the Conservative leadership.

“Before this wave of populism, I would have been entirely in favour,” a veteran Liberal organizer said. “I now think it is a horrible idea. More democracy will not give us qualitatively better democratic results — we’ve witnessed this in the U.S.,” as well as here.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Despite the appeal of a more open system, Hunter is facing an uphill struggle to win approval for her proposed amendment. Similar efforts have failed in recent years and there may be little appetite for change now.

But she is at least asking the right questions, namely: why are the Ontario Liberals the only party with a leadership selection system stuck in the past? She should also be asking the party, if it won’t change it now, will it ever?

Read more about: