What you missed from the weekend’s conventions

Share

This is The Globe's daily politics newsletter. Sign up to get it by e-mail each morning.

POLITICS BRIEFING

By Chris Hannay (@channay)

It was the tale of two conventions this weekend, and this is what happened:

> Liberals: Despite some grassroots rumblings, Liberals in Winnipeg almost unanimously approved a new party constitution that gives the party leader and national council more power and opens up membership to all Canadians for free. In his farewell column for the Toronto Star, Tim Harper says the party has become the "Justin Trudeau movement." And Bob Rae, a former interim leader of the party, apologized for making a "thoughtless gesture" when Mr. Trudeau said something nice about former prime minister Stephen Harper.

> Conservatives: The unusually open Conservative convention in Vancouver voted two-to-one to strike off an official party policy against same-sex marriage, but there seemed to be little evidence of any great schisms in the party. (There was, however, a grim reaper and an awkward attempt at rapping.)

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW IN OTTAWA

> As Ottawa prepares to spend big on infrastructure, the Competition Bureau is stepping up its training of public servants on how to avoid bid-rigging and collusion.

> Federal and provincial governments have scheduled a meeting in Vancouver in June to discuss changes to the Canada Pension Plan.

> The Liberals have scrapped the formalized system for bureaucratic engagement with the media and public that was created by the previous Conservative government.

> The Trudeaus have used the temporary foreign worker program to bring in a nanny to Canada.

> And journalist and former Liberal speechwriter Colin Horgan makes the case for why politicians should be banned from Twitter.

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

> Nova Scotia: Rumours are starting that the Liberals will call a snap election this fall, just three years into their mandate.

> British Columbia: Justine Hunter, The Globe's Victoria correspondent, explains how the B.C. legislature's lone Green MLA has been putting greater pressure on the opposition NDP than the governing Liberals. (for subscribers)

WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT

John Ibbitson (Globe and Mail): "Conservatives are conservative. They embrace respect for family, tradition and a cautious approach to social engineering. For the base of the party – the people who pay their own money and take their own time to travel thousands of kilometres, in some cases, to debate policy and renew ties – accepting same-sex marriage came gradually. One encouraging sign for Conservatives was the large number of young delegates at this convention, which in previous gatherings had seemed older and greyer. Delegates also voted to support the effective decriminalization – though not legalization – of marijuana. Yet lest anyone believe the Tories were entirely abandoning their social-conservative roots, the party also went on record condemning gender-selection abortions – any reference to abortion, whatever the context, was seen as catering to pro-lifers – and strengthening the rights of gun owners."

Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail): "Journalists have a tendency to overestimate how much people in the real world care about the level of access they are given. But in this case, the convention organizers – people who were very much Harper Conservatives – were unsubtly acknowledging they thought the secrecy had gone too far and caused their party problems. Act like you have something to hide, and people will assume you do. "

Michael Den Tandt (National Post): "The Tory party is, in brief, in a good position to beat the government like an old rug for the next four years, after which there will be an election of some sort. Liberal hornblowers should consider that, as they celebrate the Trudeau Restoration."

Chantal Hébert (Toronto Star): "It was the most open Conservative convention in more than 10 years and, for the most part, its participants left Vancouver feeling good about their party's prospects. A yearlong leadership contest could still bring long-standing fault lines back to the surface, but for now at least the Conservatives – even though they fell from a greater height in the last election – are on a faster track to recovery than the New Democrats."

Welcome to the Globe Politics newsletter! Let us know what you think.