Debate among Liberal MPs over voting rules in leadership race

With contenders poised to enter the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister and Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau, concerns are being raised about the party’s criteria for voting eligibility.

According to LPC bylaws, those wishing to register with the party must be at least 14 years old, must not be a member of another federal party, and must "ordinarily live in Canada" – but they do not need to be Canadian citizens or even permanent residents.

"It does open up the party to the potential of interference from outside nefarious actors," said University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford.

"So, if they are going to allow the same membership rules, then they have to tighten up other procedures.”

Those concerns were echoed by a number of Liberal members of Parliament as they made their way into an Ottawa caucus meeting on Wednesday.

Some members of the party executive, who will ultimately be responsible for deciding on the voting rules, were also present at that meeting.

According to Vancouver-Granville MP Taleeb Noormohamed, the issue has been a topic of conversation for Liberal MPs in British Columbia since Trudeau announced he would be stepping down.

“If you look at the challenges around foreign interference, all the challenges that we’ve been dealing with, I think it’s really important for us to have a conversation on making sure that Canadians and permanent residents have the right to vote,” Noormohamed said ahead of the meeting.

"I can tell you on behalf of the caucus in British Columbia this is a very real concern. We intend to raise that concern today.”

Some other parties in the House of Commons also allow non-Canadians to vote on their leadership, including the Conservative Party of Canada, which does require voting members to be permanent residents, at a minimum.

The LPC has not yet announced rules for the upcoming leadership contest, including those governing candidates and voting eligibility.