Angry in the Great White North

Here is the full unedited text of the press release:

News Release

Contact: Katharine Parsons 905-252-1857 or katharineparsons@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Illegal Annual General Meeting for Federal Libs in Queensville, ON

Queensville, Ontario - September 5, 2007. The Federal Liberal Riding Association is gearing up for a show-down at the Queensville Community Centre tomorrow night Thursday September 6th at 7:00 PM. But with their numbers hovering around the 100-mark following the unsuccessful campaigns of Bradford nurse Kate Wilson, their biggest problem will be finding enough people for a legal quorum.

To make matters worse, the autocratic style of riding president Lynne Steele, former campaign manager for Wilson, and new to the riding compared to most of the old Liberals in the area, has not gone over well in the Riding Executive.

New director Katharine Parsons is dumbfounded by the lack of organization and transparency.

"Ms. Steele invited me on the Board in March. I was ready to get down to work. I have met so many wonderful people in York-Simcoe but the Directors are dropping like flies off the Board! First, one of our members, Ian Connerty, took exception to the Treasurer's report --- we had no hard copies, unlike most volunteer boards I've been on ---- and asked for an investigation. The Party got involved. Then, the Membership Secretary, Dr. Murray Wilson, blind-sided V.P. Bob Cameron by telling him he was no longer a Liberal, according to the membership list, and asked him to step out, saying he had no right to be there. Bob happened to be able to produce his membership card that proved he was. Then Lynne said she had called the Ontario branch of the Liberal Party and requested an Annual General Meeting. I asked her why she did that. We never had a vote that allowed her to."

Parsons continued, "The Annual General Meeting is illegal. The Liberal Constitution states that we need a vote of our Executive to call one. Not only did we not WANT one until after the Provincial Election, but we never voted on it. I have lodged a formal complaint which they haven't answered. I joined the Liberal Party because Ken Dryden and Stephane Dion invited me to. I believed them when they committed to all that renewal, that transparency. The corruption in the Party was like a brain tumour. People like Dion are trying desperately to cure the disease. But I'm afraid that they cut out the cancer too late. It has metastasized into ridings like ours."

A few years ago the parking lot of the Community Centre in the sleepy town of East Gwillimbury would have been jammed and the hall standing room only when popular M.P. Karen Kraft-Sloan (Liberal) held the riding. Just a few years ago, there were more than 1200 registered Liberals in the riding.

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Backgrounder:

Katharine Parsons is a local community activist in Queensville, Ontario. She is a photojournalist/writer, freelance researcher and former Galapagos Islands naturalist. She is a recent Director on the Board of the York-Simcoe Federal Liberal Riding Association. Email katharineparsons@gmail.com, phone (905)252-1857.

The Queensville Community Centre, 1590 Queensville Sideroad, Queensville, Ontario L0G 1R0

According to the website, Katharine Parsons is still a member of the big happy family that is the York Simcoe Liberals.

Now let's break this down. First we have a verbal Treasurer's Report. With Liberal Party history with money that is not carefully tracked, it is no surprise that people wanted to see a detailed breakdown. The triggers a formal Liberal Party investigation.

That causes more contention, an accusation that the VP was not a Liberal Party member, and more allegations of Lynne Steele's autocratic style.

And we learn all this in a press release?!

Meanwhile, Lynne Steele says everything is fine:

Riding association president Lynne Steele said the group is ready if an election call comes sooner than later.

So I take it that Lynne Steele disagrees with Katharine Parsons that an institutional cancer has metastasized inside the riding association, fatally crippling its ability to work as a coherent whole?

I suppose we'll know for sure when Lynne Steele issues a press release of her own.