Did NDP make a difference in Canada?

What has the New Democratic Party brought to the Canadians and if the NDP never existed would Canada be the same?

Old age pension, Universal health care....

I'm with Lone Wolf on this one: when the NDP were the party of Western farmers and the working poor, they were a very good influence on Canadian political culture and Canadian society.

Unfortunately, with the rise of Ed Broadbent, they became the party of latte-drinking psuedo intellectuals, the baby of the big, rich unions, and of special interest groups.........

No longer my kind of party.

The NDP tends to sbsorb the far left Liberals votes much like the Reform used to absorb the far right Conservative votes

I much rather preferred it when there were four National Parties

They brought nothing as far as I am concerned, especially if Layton is any example....

I would love to see another leader with the calibre of the late Tommy Douglas. Now, NDP just seem to take oppose too literally....

Well then take yourself off the Universal Health care and pay your own way when you need medical attention.

My GF isn't covered by our UHC since she just moved from another country, and when she needed to get a simple Px for something, that's normally free for us, it cost her over $300 after it was all said and done (Hopital service, tests and the prescription)..... of course after waiting six hours to be seen.

Some people certainly don't know what they got until they see what others don't.

I don't agree Colpy. I've never voted for the NDP but had I wanted to vote for that party, Ed Broadbent is the guy who would have swung my vote.

Ed Broadbent was an MP for 21 years and leader of the NDP for 14 years before retiring from politics in 1989. Under his leadership, the NDP had its strongest showing, reaching 43 seats in the 1988 election. Some of the issues Ed Broadbent fought for were an equitable tax system, equality for women, the constitutional entrenchment of aboriginal and economic rights. In 2004, Ed Broadbent returned to politics, winning the riding of Ottawa Centre for the NDP. He did not run again in 2006.

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Perhaps.

I find though that the main problem with the NDP is lack of focus. What is its objective exactly? It claims to be a socialist party supposed to help the poor, yet it wants to bail out the auto industry even though its managers and workers get higher wages than many around Canada already. So how does that help the poor?

It wants to fund arts and culture through TV stations, theatre, etc., but again, you still need to be able to afford to go to the theatre, and many technicians in the TV industry have a relatively high education and high salary already. How does that help the poor?

They support subsidizing bus tickets for university students who have the money to to go university. How does that help the poor who don't have the money to go to university?

It opposes free trade. How does that help the poor in developing countries?

From that standpoint, if the NDP wants to win votes as the party for the poor, it needs to educate the public as to how exactly its policies will help the poor better than other policies. And that is where the NDP has lost me. I don't consider myself socialist necessarily, but will vote for a party that promotes social justice. Now I get the impression that the NDP is more concerned about corporate welfare and maintaining high union wages than helping the rest of the population. It's bought out by special interest groups, and as a result, I've come to the conclusion that if none of the parties can spend with a sense of justice, then maybe something like the Libertarian Party might be something worth considering. Let's say a kind of NDP-Libertarian co-alition, with the Libertarians keeping all the NDP special interest projects in check while still ensuring that any government spending that does occur is very focussed on helping the poor and not just some pet projects.

Though honestly, I don't see such a co-alition any time soon, but must admit that I've been leaning ever more Libertarian lately.

I don't know if I'm more sick of the NDP or our political system.

In BC we're 1 year away from the Olympic Games. Yes there will be cost overruns and assorted economic bs, but we should be celebrating this upcoming event. Carol James (BC NDP) has become a nauseating figure who should either shut her yap or move to North Korea. The constant crying wolf, solely because she's the opposition and thinks she has to bitch about anything and everything, is really sickening. When I hear her or her cronies come on the radio I shut it off because I can't drive and throw up at the same time.

I vote mostly with Colpy on this one. Unemployment insurance, universal medical care, Canada pension plan, old age pension supplements, all the policies we now lump under the label "social safety net" came from the CCF/NDP originally, so yes, they have made a significant positive difference. Read the Regina Manifesto, it's all there. I think I'd part from Colpy on the matter of parting with the federal NDP during Ed Broadbent's tenure, though I confess I'm not quite sure where I'd draw that line. I *am* sure, however, that if I hadn't drawn it before I'd certainly have drawn it with the appearance of Jack Layton. The CCF, and later the NDP, for a long time were the conscience of the nation, and of Parliament, now they appear to me to be just a bunch of doctrinaire leftist ideologues with some really alarming ideas about fiscal policy. Scare 'em with recession talk and promise pie in the sky... Gawd, listen to Layton carefully, it sounds to me like he thinks nobody should be responsible for anything, except the government, and I find it paternalistic and insulting. I'll take responsibility for myself, thank you very much, and don't be robbing me to give Joe SixPack next door a life of ease.

NDP brought us government health care and should at least be thanked for that.

At the time of Tommy Douglas and prior the CCF did bring a lot of good ideas to the federal table. At one time there was a great need for a party to fight for the rights of the average citizen. Since that time they have largely become a none issue and now under Taliban Jack are even too embarrassing to be comical. The BC wing of the NDP is now the political arm of the government unions and is so far out of touch with reality that they think they should be receiving wage hikes while so many taxpayers are unemployed. The BC teachers union even took a vote on wether or not they should obey the law. Good example to our kids.