The radical left that has always controlled the NDP will soon take the party to the obscurity obtained by the sovereignists in Quebec. Good riddance.
The NDP Should Become A Labour Party Again
- Thread starter tay
- Start date
NDP should become an anti-capitalist party
IF you think NDP is radical left, well you don't really know what the hell the radical left is. lol.
Dippers are anything but democratic. Much closer to fascists in thinking and deeds. If you had ever had the misfortune to deal with the BC NDP when they were in power you would know this.
They offer an alternative to the single gang that displays itself as two popular parties in the eyes of the conned and stupid
yes this line stated by one minister says it all ( were the government we can do what we want )
I don't think NDP are democratic, none of the parties are actually democratic. There's no such thing as a democracy in capitalism, they aren't compatible.
Democracy and capitalism go hand in hand. Actually capitalism isn't really the right word either. Free enterprise is the correct term. ANything else infers government picking winners and losers.
I know that's what you think, but what you think and what is reality are two separate things.
Remaking itself an anti-capitalist party would be one way for the party to commit suicide no doubt.
How do you sell a progressive vision to Canadians, when they feel they are already living in the midst of one?
Since the 2015 election, this has been the existential question facing the federal New Democratic Party. The Trudeau government has moved just left enough to satisfy much of the Tom Mulcair New Democrats, making feminism their bedrock, introducing a new Canada Child Benefit, grounding Canada's CF-18 fighter jets in Iraq and so forth.
Now, with the recent tabling of the legislation to legalize marijuana in Canada, the need for a reawakening of the federal NDP is all the more pressing.
For roughly the last 40 years, the NDP has presented largely the same policy stance on marijuana — a combination of mostly decriminalization with some legalization talk thrown in. In 1993, NDP MP Jim Fulton introduced a private members bill in the House to legalize marijuana, but it was voted down by the then-Liberal majority government.
Former NDP leader Jack Layton advocated for both legalization and decriminalization during the 2004 federal election campaign, but by and large, the official party policy has been one of decriminalization.
The NDP's position has been predicated on the belief that young people — and particularly those of racialized communities — should not receive criminal records for personal possession. But during the last election, Mulcair was outflanked on the left by Trudeau's legalization promise, making the NDP's longstanding commitment to marijuana policy change largely forgettable.
But now, there's an opportunity for the NDP to regain some ground with the tabling of the Liberals' legalization agenda.
For starters, the progressive packaging of the legislation, when unwrapped, actually imposes harsher criminal sentences than before for those caught possessing or selling the drug outside the proposed guidelines. Furthermore, the Liberals' plan does not come with immediate decriminalization, meaning that Canadians will continue to be arrested and possibly charged with marijuana offences, even though we know the exact day by which they will be obsolete.
Since actually forming government, the Liberals have used this progressive-lite approach to enact many of their bold campaign promises. For instance, they approved two of the three earlier proposed pipelines, despite their commitment to Indigenous rights, sovereignty and protecting the environment; and most notably, backtracked on electoral reform — an issue fiercely defended by many of the progressives who voted for them.
The progressive dream many Canadians imagined would come after electing Trudeau has proven to be a disappointment. As the governing party continues to falter on many of its commitments, now more than ever does the NDP need its star players to get out there and define what progressive politics really means — and in real time.
Let's imagine a leadership race where these candidates agree to moments where they put their rivalries aside and present a united front against Trudeau; where they call out failures of Liberal legislation and policy changes, especially in living up to their progressive promises.
Perhaps, this could be done outside the context of the leadership debate, directed to a much wider, politically diverse audience. This would allow star MPs like Ashton, Julian and Angus to balance the current interests of the party, all while debating what is best for its future. The Liberals' tabling of its marijuana legalization plan would have been an ideal opportunity to do that.
The NDP should not simply set its sights on the future of the party. There is room to forge a path back to the left, right now.
It's faux-progressivism, and the NDP should be calling it out at every opportunity. The only problem? Many of their star MPs seem to have left the building.
The Liberal government is selling faux-progressivism. The NDP should unite in calling it out - CBC News | Opinion
Since the 2015 election, this has been the existential question facing the federal New Democratic Party. The Trudeau government has moved just left enough to satisfy much of the Tom Mulcair New Democrats, making feminism their bedrock, introducing a new Canada Child Benefit, grounding Canada's CF-18 fighter jets in Iraq and so forth.
Now, with the recent tabling of the legislation to legalize marijuana in Canada, the need for a reawakening of the federal NDP is all the more pressing.
For roughly the last 40 years, the NDP has presented largely the same policy stance on marijuana — a combination of mostly decriminalization with some legalization talk thrown in. In 1993, NDP MP Jim Fulton introduced a private members bill in the House to legalize marijuana, but it was voted down by the then-Liberal majority government.
Former NDP leader Jack Layton advocated for both legalization and decriminalization during the 2004 federal election campaign, but by and large, the official party policy has been one of decriminalization.
The NDP's position has been predicated on the belief that young people — and particularly those of racialized communities — should not receive criminal records for personal possession. But during the last election, Mulcair was outflanked on the left by Trudeau's legalization promise, making the NDP's longstanding commitment to marijuana policy change largely forgettable.
But now, there's an opportunity for the NDP to regain some ground with the tabling of the Liberals' legalization agenda.
For starters, the progressive packaging of the legislation, when unwrapped, actually imposes harsher criminal sentences than before for those caught possessing or selling the drug outside the proposed guidelines. Furthermore, the Liberals' plan does not come with immediate decriminalization, meaning that Canadians will continue to be arrested and possibly charged with marijuana offences, even though we know the exact day by which they will be obsolete.
Since actually forming government, the Liberals have used this progressive-lite approach to enact many of their bold campaign promises. For instance, they approved two of the three earlier proposed pipelines, despite their commitment to Indigenous rights, sovereignty and protecting the environment; and most notably, backtracked on electoral reform — an issue fiercely defended by many of the progressives who voted for them.
The progressive dream many Canadians imagined would come after electing Trudeau has proven to be a disappointment. As the governing party continues to falter on many of its commitments, now more than ever does the NDP need its star players to get out there and define what progressive politics really means — and in real time.
Let's imagine a leadership race where these candidates agree to moments where they put their rivalries aside and present a united front against Trudeau; where they call out failures of Liberal legislation and policy changes, especially in living up to their progressive promises.
Perhaps, this could be done outside the context of the leadership debate, directed to a much wider, politically diverse audience. This would allow star MPs like Ashton, Julian and Angus to balance the current interests of the party, all while debating what is best for its future. The Liberals' tabling of its marijuana legalization plan would have been an ideal opportunity to do that.
The NDP should not simply set its sights on the future of the party. There is room to forge a path back to the left, right now.
It's faux-progressivism, and the NDP should be calling it out at every opportunity. The only problem? Many of their star MPs seem to have left the building.
The Liberal government is selling faux-progressivism. The NDP should unite in calling it out - CBC News | Opinion
Why? Historically labour has never supported the NDP. If is had the NDP would have been elected long ago.