Liberals say they're serious about it this time. Serious, that is, about party renewal.

Anyone who has followed the internal machinations of the party will remember all the promises for re-invigoration made at the December 2006 leadership convention, the one that elected Stéphane Dion to the top job.

Anyone paying attention now knows those promises bore little fruit.

But now the party is mulling over the work of its special committee on party renewal whose report is entitled "Every Voter Counts: the 308 Riding Strategy." That report is pretty blunt about the Liberal chances for success without change.

Alison Crawford

"While public opinion polls reveal the beginnings of a resurgence in popularity of the party, this will not translate into electoral victory unless and until we have provided ourselves with sufficient resources and organizational heft to compete effectively on an ongoing basis and, in particular, in general elections."

Members of the committee include MPs Navdeep Bains and Bonnie Crombie as well as former national director Steve MacKinnon and Senator Grant Mitchell.

Among their observations are that the Conservatives are out-fundraising Liberals by a 4-1 margin; that the party's provincial branches are clunky and ineffective; that other bodies (with the exception of the Young Liberals) are not raising enough money; and that the party has shut many grassroots members out of policy-making.

In response to these problems, the renewal committee has suggested a number of administrative changes to streamline the party and save money.

They include consolidating all financial management, such as payroll, contracting, etc., in the national office as well as adopting a 308-riding strategy to ensure the party doesn't ignore areas like Alberta where it has not performed well in the past.

It also urges the party to support the change to a one-member, one-vote leadership selection process at its leadership convention in Vancouver at the end of this month.

This was the Belinda Stronach (among others) proposal that received only 50 per cent support at the last convention and requires a two-thirds majority to become party policy. But after the unprecedented process by which the party — essentially the caucus — chose Michael Ignatieff as leader in December, many are sure it will pass this time around.

Many of the committee's recommendations for change would save money.

As for how that money would be used, the report's authors at least are pretty clear: "The Conservative party's heavily-funded national office has no financial impediments to acquiring sophisticated computer software for voter and issue tracking, and hiring staff to support such strategic tools.

"To compete with our main rivals, we need a team of paid, professional staff on the job constantly. At the moment we are seriously out-staffed and out-resourced."

Who says you can't learn from your enemies?

— Alison Crawford