Mr. Speaker, the member for LaSalle--Émard, the self-declared Moses of Canadian politics, has come down from the Eastern Townships and has delivered his ten commandments of democratic reform. These commandments are not written in stone since they change depending on who is in the listening audience, but near as we can tell they go something like this:
Thou shall not let other leadership candidates sell memberships.
Thou shall ensure provincial executives execute the first commandment perfectly.
Thou shall replace local riding executives who fail to observe these commandments.
Thou shall retain the leadership prerogative to appoint Liberal candidates where necessary.
It shall be necessary whenever a candidate fails to observe these commandments.
Thou shall not disclose thy donor list until after one wins the leadership race.
I shall not bad-mouth obviously less qualified candidates for leader since that is a job for my supporters.
Thou shall support the Prime Minister at all times, though this commandment is delayed until I become the Prime Minister.
Thou shall not observe the commandments of the red book since it was merely an election tool, and that was then and this is now.
The 10th commandment should really be: thou shall not take seriously any promises of democratic reform from anyone in the Liberal Party of Canada.