Politiques
Les positions de Stephanie.
Réforme du Parti
Party reform is foundational to Stephanie Bowman's vision for leadership. For the Ontario Liberal Party to win the next election, we need to:
- Strengthen our riding associations;
- Build a substantial campaign fund;
- Support and train our volunteers;
- Modernize our tools and infrastructure;
- Engage with Ontario Young Liberals and Commissions to play a substantive role in shaping our Party's future; and
- Ensure that members across Ontario have a meaningful voice in the OLP's operations and policy development.
These reforms are necessary to build an Ontario Liberal Party that is Ready for What's Next.
Here is how we can achieve our goals through a comprehensive approach to party reform.
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Based on the short timeline between recent elections, we need to be ready for an election as early as Fall 2027. That means we need to start putting the people, systems and infrastructure in place to win immediately.
As leader, I will:
- Appoint a Campaign Director by February 2027;
- Open Candidate Nominations in early Spring of 2027;
- Ensure a Green Light process that is clear, reliable and timely; and
- Promptly call nominations when strong candidates are ready.
A strong provincial Party starts with strong local organizations. The Ontario Liberal Party will provide hands-on support to recruit and build riding associations in communities where local organization is limited or inactive.
As leader, I will:
- Show up in every riding, in rooms big and small, to connect with Ontarians and spread our message.
- Help local Liberals recruit members to their executive team, provide training and organizational support, assist with early membership and volunteer development, and help with planning community and fundraising events;
- Focus on giving each riding association the money, foundation, tools, and support needed to become active and sustainable, with succession planning for the long term; and
- Hire more field staff and, where needed, conduct a focused search to recruit PLA presidents and/or executive teams to build strong riding associations in every riding.
The Party will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the Party's technology, data and campaign tools, including Liberalist, voter data, field organizing systems and digital infrastructure.
As leader, I will:
- Initiate the assessment by the end of 2026;
- Present the results and a modernization plan to the Executive Council by Spring 2027. The plan will:
- identify gaps and required upgrades;
- recommend technology and data investments; and
- Include implementation timelines to ensure that tools are ready and operational for PLAs and campaigns to train and to access accurate and actionable voter data.
- Complete major technology and data improvements well in advance of the next election; and
- Ensure regional VPs, riding presidents, prospective campaign managers, and other members who volunteer are trained on data tools.
One of the most important roles of the leader is to act as chief fundraiser. With a healthy campaign fund, we can reach Ontarians in every corner of the province with our message between elections.
As leader, I will:
- Expand professional fundraising capacity;
- Create a dedicated fundraising cabinet;
- Recruit top donors;
- Expand monthly donor programs;
- Empower fundraising champions across every region to assist riding engagement with donors, and to provide training and planning; and
- Ensure that our riding associations have support to fundraise for the next election.
Leadership races, nominations, and elections bring in new members. When people join our Party as members, we need to engage them.
As leader, I will:
- Develop a welcome package for all new and returning members to engage them from the start;
- Activate members early to become lifelong members; and
- Appeal to progressive and Liberal minded Ontarians to join the OLP using modern online recruitment methods.
Volunteers are our greatest asset. They have a lot of talent and experience. We need to ensure the collective knowledge and skills of experienced volunteers is shared with the next generation of organizers to broaden our talent pool across the province.
The Ontario Liberal Academy will empower members to take on field and fundraising positions and to get involved in the policy process.
In addition to regional training, online training will be offered. For those who demonstrate aptitude we will invest in opportunities to attend intensive in-person training sessions. This is succession planning for the next class of volunteers that will take our Party into the future.
I commit to launch an Ontario Liberal Academy offering:
- Campaign schools
- Digital organizing
- Fundraising certification
- Candidate preparation
- Media training
- Data management
- Canvassing excellence
- CFO training
With sessions available online and in person, we can engage members regularly and in every region. We will create the next generation of Ontario Liberal campaign managers and equip our members with the tools and knowledge they need to win.
OLP Commissions were created to ensure that specific stakeholder groups have an opportunity to engage meaningfully within the Party. Having a purposeful connection between these Commissions and Party leadership will be critical to our Party's success.
As leader, I will:
- Strengthen the voice and organizational capacity of Party Commissions:
- Ontario Liberal Rural and Northern Commission;
- Ontario Liberal Seniors' Commission;
- Ontario Women's Liberal Commission; and
- Ontario Young Liberals.
- Foster a direct and consistent connection to the Leader and senior Party staff year round, not just during campaigns or major conventions;
- Hold quarterly meetings with each Party Commission and the Senior Leadership team, including the Leader, to discuss priorities, emerging issues and opportunities for engagement. These meetings will create a regular channel for Commissions to bring forward the perspectives of the members and communities they represent; and
- Establish a clear process to track issues and recommendations raised by Commissions, and ensure appropriate follow-up.
- Strengthen the voice and organizational capacity of Party Commissions:
A stronger Ontario Liberal Party means making sure that members and riding associations in every part of the province have a meaningful connection to the Party and its leadership.
As leader, I will:
- Hold regular meetings between Regional VPs, PLA presidents, the leader, executive council and Party staff;
- Set meeting dates well in advance to allow volunteers ample time to plan their attendance; and
- Establish the Ontario Liberal Party “Coming Together Fund” to ensure that all ridings are represented at in-person meetings. Affordability cannot be a barrier to full and active participation.
We need to create more opportunities for young Liberals to get involved, build experience, and take on meaningful roles within the Party.
As leader, I will:
- Work with the OYL and provide staff resources to host caucus events, tour stops and roundtables;
- Make intentional visits and meetings with youth stakeholders during caucus tours;
- Develop specific youth training sessions in collaboration with the OYL for campaign and PLA-related roles;
- Facilitate youth entry into the Ontario Liberal Party by connecting them with PLAs and leaders within the Party;
- Reduce financial barriers to attending Ontario Liberal Party events; and
- At a minimum: double the OLP Liberal Caucus Summer Internship Program in 2027; include more placements in MPP offices; ensure diversity; and invest in Young Liberals by providing more opportunities to gain paid, professional experience within the Party.
Our members should have a meaningful role in shaping the ideas and policies that our Party presents to Ontarians.
As leader, I will:
- Ensure that ridings and regions have a clear process and a schedule for policy development;
- Ensure that the policy proposals from ridings and regions are discussed at a provincial convention;
- Ensure that the general membership have an opportunity to vote on policy both virtually and at a provincial convention; and
- Ensure that the policies from members feed into the platform for the next election.
Establish a province-wide approach that creates a strong base for by-elections so that we are always ready.
As leader, I will:
- Use polling and data to support mobilization and organizational assistance;
- Treat all ridings as winnable in by-elections;
- Direct the central party to provide financial and capacity support to give our Liberal by-election campaigns the best possible results; and
- Encourage held ridings and our stronger PLAs to contribute to by-elections for an all hands on deck approach.
This will help ensure local candidates begin with stronger financial and organizational backing from across the Party, while building a culture in which Liberals across Ontario support each other wherever a campaign is taking place.
Our Party's constitution should reflect our values while providing clear, fair and modern rules for how the Ontario Liberal Party operates.
As leader, I will:
- Suggest that the Constitution should begin with a meaningful statement of values. In consultation with Party members, a vote will be held on this change at the next AGM;
- Open the Constitutional Committee to new members;
- Ensure that the Constitutional Committee takes input from across the province and that proposals will be available for review and comment long before the AGM;
- Strengthen nomination voting rules to instill confidence in our democratic processes;
- Limit nomination voting to Canadian citizens and permanent residents; and
- Keep membership eligibility at age 14 so young people can continue to have a voice and get involved early.
Our values should be reflected in how we treat the people who give their time and energy to our Party.
As leader, I will:
- Establish a province-wide code of conduct that ensures all volunteers and staff, particularly Young Liberals, are safe, respected and appreciated;
- Apply the Code of Conduct consistently to staff, candidates, riding associations, campaign teams and volunteers;
- Provide clear guidance and training so that members and volunteers understand their responsibilities and know where to turn if an issue arises;
- Create transparent and trusted processes for reporting concerns and resolving complaints in a timely and fair manner for all involved;
- Ensure that those who initiate complaints are included in the process, communicated with empathetically and informed of the outcome; and
- Regularly review these standards to ensure they continue to reflect best practices and foster a welcoming, respectful and inclusive Party culture.