More Lines to Divide Us (a Political Rant)

A few weeks back, I received a letter from the Federal Liberal Party asking me to participate in one of their political conventions. If you follow Canadian politics at all, you'll know that over the past 5 years or so, the Liberals have lost a LOT. Every federal election sees them losing more and more support, and therefore more seats in the House. They went from a majority government, to a minority, to the official opposition in a minority Conservative government, to their current status of... well... barely having seats. The Conservatives have a majority, the NDP is the rising star with the official opposition.

So the Liberals are scrambling. Why have they lost so much support? They need new leadership (as the last leader stepped down after the election). And so, they decided to hold a convention. An Extraordinary Convention. A way to allow members to speak up, speak out, and try to get to the root of this problem. So they mailed out registration forms for the convention inviting members from every riding to become Delegates.

And yet... the registration form COMPLETELY rubbed me the wrong way. I'm offended by it in ways I can't even begin to explain.

In order to register I must certify that I am ONE of the following (transposed exactly as it appears on the form):

• I am a SENIOR FEMALE; I am 65 years of age or older (as defined in the 2009 LPC Constitution)
• I am a SENIOR MALE; I am 65 years of age or older (as defined in the 2009 LPC Constitution)
• I am a YOUTH FEMALE; I am 25 years of age or under (as defined in the 2009 LPC Constitution)
• I am a YOUTH MALE; I am 25 years of age or under (as defined in the 2009 LPC Constitution)
• I am a FEMALE; I am between the ages of 26 and 64.
• I am a MALE; I am between the ages of 26 and 64.
• I am an ABORIGINAL (as defined in the Constitution of the LPC's Aboriginal Peoples' Commission)

Now, I'm pretty sure this is ageist, sexist, and just downright racist. Why do we need to be divided up this way? Why are these the only categories that matter? Why do these categories matter at all? What if I don't fit into any of the above?

Now, I've been a proud Liberal for years. They're not the perfect party, but they are the closest party to my political beliefs. I recognize that I don't always agree with them, but in politics and leadership, you can't please all of the people all of the time. I truly believe they are aimed as closely to what they want for Canada as what I want as a Canadian. And yet this registration form... well, since I obviously don't fall into any of their neatly divided categories, perhaps I don't fit into their party after all.