P.E.I. Liberal party eliminates membership fees

P.E.I.'s Liberal Party has dropped its $10 per person membership fee.

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At the party'sannual general meeting Saturday in Charlottetown, members voted on the change.

"We took the lead from the federal party," said Scott Barry, president of the Liberal Party of P.E.I.

Back in May 2016, the federal Liberals moved away from membership fees, and P.E.I. has been considering it ever since, he said.

"It made the most sense for us to remove barriers from anyone who was interested in coming out and engaging with our association," Barry said. "Make it as easy as possible for them to do that."

'Modest' revenue

Administration of membership renewals cost time and money for what was "a pretty modest amount of revenue," said Barry.

In election years, membership in the Liberal party tops 7,000 Islanders, Barry said.

The party will make up the shortfall in revenue in other ways, he said, such as possibly charging fees to attend events such as nominating conventions that had previously been free.

"There are different levels to which people would like to engage with the party -- some people, that means showing up and participating in policy discussions like we had on Saturday," Barry said. "Another example would be at a nominating convention."

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