Liberals to allow non-members to vote for leader

Liberal interim Leader Bob Rae and wife Arlene Perly-Rae register for the Liberal Biennal Convention in Ottawa on Thursday, January 12, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals are making some changes they hope will put them on the road to recovery after the bashing they took in the May election.

Delegates at the party's Ottawa convention have decided to invite all liberal-minded Canadians to help choose the party's next leader.

They voted to allow anyone willing to register as a "supporter" -- and not just fee-paying, card-carrying party members -- to vote for future party leaders.

However, they drew the line at giving supporters the right to vote in local nomination contests.

That privilege will remain strictly with party members.

The idea of creating a new supporter class of Liberals was fiercely debated -- and fiercely supported by interim leader Bob Rae.

Rae implored delegates to throw open the doors of the party -- to say clearly that the Liberal party is not a closed club, but rather an expression of a liberal movement across Canada.