Federal Liberals in Langley will be represented in Ottawa this week by Langley riding president Karen Kersey and youth member Derrick Murphy.
Both are delegates at the party’s biennial convention and election of officers, taking place Jan. 13 to 15.
Kersey, who became president in September, said the convention is an opportunity for Liberals to do some “serious navel gazing” before the membership can put new processes in place that will keep the party afloat.
Kersey is supporting Charles Ward, a western candidate for the presidency who is up against four easterners, including top contenders Sheila Copps and Mike Crawley.
“The Liberal Party has good bones,” Ward said. “But somewhere we lost our way and ended up being pretty darned anorexic.”
“Ward has the chops that will bring a new business model to the Liberal Party,” Kersey said.
The bilingual Ward is retired from Air France Cargo Canada, with a wealth of experience in managing businesses and turning around others where all else has failed — a transferable skill set valuable to the political side of the party. He has lived and worked in all four regions of Canada.
Kersey said the federal Liberals have the time to reflect and time to send interim leader Bob Rae into the field to build new consensus on where the party is headed.
She would like to see less ambivalence by Rae around his future.
“If he wants to run in a leadership race, then he needs to step aside and we’ll find someone else to lead the rebuild,” Kersey said. “If not, then he has to set out goals and objectives for our party to meet and work together with the membership and caucus to make inroads into the electorate in order to have future successes.”
Kersey will report back on the convention to the Langley riding association at its regular meeting on Jan. 25.