OTTAWA — The president of the Canadian Alliance’s largest riding association predicts the party has shrunk dramatically, as the expiration date for a majority of memberships passed Monday.
Jim Stevenson, president of the Calgary Northeast constituency association, said that he expects his own numbers to plummet, although he won’t see the final figures until later this summer.
Last June marked the largest membership drive in the party’s history, with June 18 the cut-off date for people who wanted to vote in last summer’s leadership race.
Four thousand people signed up last June 17 alone in the Calgary Northeast riding — up from only 500 members in the association at the beginning of 2000.
Stevenson said many of those people who joined up had their memberships paid for by teams attached to various candidates, and will likely let them lapse.
Others are just disenchanted with the party’s internal turmoil.
“The main reason is that they won’t contribute or they won’t renew until we get rid of Stockwell Day,” Stevenson said.
