Liberal leadership numbers released

The Liberal Party of Canada president tweeted today:

That’s 294,000 members. At the outset of this contest, the Liberal Party of Canada counted about 100,000 supporters. We can take that difference to mean that 194,000 new supporters signed up during the leadership process. Justin Trudeau’s camp recently boasted that they signed up 150,000 new supporters. This means that 44,000 supporters are split between the other leadership candidates.

These are “supporters”, meaning they did weren’t required to pay any money to join the Liberal Party as full members. Other parties (the NDP and CPC) have members who pay an amount (usually $10 per year) to be a member of that party. Here’s a bit of a comparison regarding what we should take these numbers to mean:

The Conservative Party of Canada had over 250,000 sold memberships for their 2004 leadership race.

The Liberal Party of Canada, in their 2003 leadership race, sold 531,000 memberships.

The NDP in 2012 signed up 128,351 members to select their new leader.

Venezuelan government angry about Stephen Harper’s remarks on the death of Hugo Chavez

The Venezuelans have responded angrily to Stephen Harper’s official statement on the passing of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,

Here is their letter (rough English translation follows),

La República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Ministerio del Poder Popular para Relaciones Exteriores mediante esta nota, protesta de manera contundente y categórica, las declaraciones emitidas el 5 de marzo de 2013 por el Primer Ministro de Canadá, Stephen Harper, en tanto que constituyen expresiones insensibles e impertinentes en momentos en que el Pueblo venezolano lamenta y llora la irreparable pérdida física del Comandante Presidente Hugo Chávez Frías.
 
La República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Ministerio del Poder Popular para Relaciones Exteriores, en nombre del Pueblo Soberano que desde el año 1998 ha elegido libre y democráticamente su destino Socialista, se obliga a recordarle al representante del Gobierno de Canadá, que ha sido gracias a ésta Revolución Bolivariana que nuestro futuro como Patria independiente y soberana se ve más radiante y promisorio que nunca, en virtud del legado de nuestro líder histórico, el Comandante Presidente Hugo Chávez Frías.
 
La República Bolivariana de Venezuela cuenta con instituciones sólidas consagradas en la Constitución Nacional de 1999, que permitirán que el pueblo venezolano, continuando con el ejercicio de su derecho a la autodeterminación, se dirija libre y soberanamente hacia el Socialismo Bolivariano y a reconocerlo como la vía para un futuro del vivir bien, que asegure la mayor suma de felicidad posible para todos.
 
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs through this note, protest in a convincing and categorical way the declarations issued on March 5, 2013 by the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, while such expressions are insensitive and intrusive at a time when the Venezuelan people laments and mourns the irreparable loss of our Commander President Hugo Chavez Frias.
 
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and the Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the sovereign people that since 1998 chose their fate freely and democratically as a Socialist’s nation, is obliged to remind the Prime Minister of Canada, that it has been thanks to this Bolivarian Revolution that our future as an independent and sovereign country looks brighter and promising than ever, lead under the legacy of our Commander Hugo Chavez Frias.
 
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has strong institutions recognized in the Constitution of 1999, which allow to the Venezuelan people, continuing with the exercise of the their right to self-determination, moves forward free and sovereign towards the Bolivarian’s Socialism and recognize it as the way for the future welfare of its citizens, to ensure the greatest happiness for all.