The new rules represent an about-face for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who ended the Liberal party’s 20-year-old practice of protecting incumbents from nomination challenges when he took the helm in 2013. At the time, the Liberals had been reduced to third-party status with fewer than 35 seats in the House of Commons. And he pointed to his own tough nomination battle in Montreal’s Papineau riding in 2008 as proof. Other senior Liberals maintained that shielding incumbents from nomination challenges had bred a culture of entitlement that was at least partly responsible for the years of internecine leadership feuding that ultimately led to the once-mighty party’s downfall. After what the party says was the most extensive consultation ever conducted on the nomination process, the party’s national board approved the new rules.

Source: National Post January 28, 2018 20:03 UTC