This May Pose a Problem for the Tories
If the NDP is moving to the left, which means those moderates, like Paul Summerville, will go with the Liberals. This is not a good sign, as the NDP is self-disintegrating themselves.
Here is an excerpt from the Globe's article:
"Among the resolutions are calls for the party to criticize Israel and the United States; calls for all industry to be taken over by workers; and calls for Canada to show “solidarity” with the socialist governments of Venezuela and Bolivia, as well as communist Cuba."
I mean what the f*^k is that?? Calls for all industry to be taken over by workers???? Show "solidarity" with Cuba? That sounds like Sacha Trudeau (if you have read his Toronto Star article recently, you will know what I am talking about. If not, e-mail me, and I will send you a copy of the text.)
This is going to alienate a lot of middle of the road Canadians, and the NDP's support base will shrink. Those people will flock to the Liberals.
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QUEBEC — Two senior members of the NDP's Quebec wing and a star candidate from Toronto are publicly criticizing Leader Jack Layton as the party opened a weekend policy convention yesterday aimed in part at wooing Quebeckers.
The co-president of the New Democrats' Quebec campaign in the past election, Carl Hétu, and Pierre Laliberté, the NDP candidate in Hull–Aylmer the past two elections, have both accused Mr. Layton of spending too little time in the province during the election early this year and of centralizing power at the expense of the party's grassroots.
Mr. Hétu said he was leaving the party while Mr. Laliberté said he was “taking his distance.”
Economist Paul Summerville, who ran for the NDP in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's, said he was leaving the party because the leadership would not counter the strong “anti-market rhetoric” from the grassroots. Mr. Summerville said he hopes to attend the Liberal leadership convention in Montreal as a supporter of Bob Rae, the former NDP premier of Ontario.
Speaking at a news conference with former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, Mr. Layton dismissed the criticisms, pointing to the large number of delegates at the convention.
“Our support here has been on a steadily upward trajectory, perhaps rising faster here than anywhere else,” he said.
Commenting on “anti-market rhetoric,” he said: “I don't see that at all. What we believe is that the economy should be fair to people.”
Convention delegates broke into small groups yesterday to decide behind closed doors which resolutions will be voted upon by the full convention today.
The vast majority of the roughly 600 proposed resolutions would move party policy dramatically to the left of what the NDP advocated in the 2006 election.
Among the resolutions are calls for the party to criticize Israel and the United States; calls for all industry to be taken over by workers; and calls for Canada to show “solidarity” with the socialist governments of Venezuela and Bolivia, as well as communist Cuba.
Mr. Summerville, a former chief economist for RBC Dominion Securities, said the party's economic resolutions led him to leave the NDP.
“I think the leadership of the party needs to make a statement that the market economy is not a necessary evil,” he said in an interview. “The anti-market rhetoric makes it a place where I would not be comfortable.”
The grumbling from Quebec began Thursday when Mr. Hétu published an opinion piece in Le Devoir announcing he was leaving the party after 20 years as an activist and candidate in the 2000 election.
“I am disappointed with the way Jack Layton and his party are directing the party,” he wrote, accusing Mr. Layton of ignoring Quebec. “The MPs who did not support Mr. Layton's [leadership bid] in January, 2003, had good reason. Their concerns have been proven. Like me, many activists in the party are disappointed.”
Mr. Laliberté, who received the third-highest percentage of votes among Quebec NDP candidates at 15.5 per cent, said he also heard many concerns from voters that Mr. Layton delivers only rehearsed lines that sound like they were crafted by a public relations firm.
“People want to know what sort of person they are going to put in high office and if they keep giving scripted answers, then at a certain point you don't know who you're voting for,” he said. “I think at some point you have to be honest.”
Mr. Laliberté said the NDP failed to capitalize on the troubles of the Liberals and Bloc in Quebec.
“I'm tired of being with a party that's out of sync with what needs to be done and said,” he said.
© Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
posted by X at 5:08 p.m.
6 Comments:
au contraire, my friend... the more nuts that fall out of the tree onto liberal pastures, the better off we'll be.
http://hallsofmacadamia.blogspot.com
/2006/09/idiots-explosives-falling-anvils.html
I don't know about that....it is more like the nuts are all coming out in the NDP and drive the more "normal" ones to the Grits.
Was anyone really shocked that New Democrats wanted all business to be nationalized? They are anti-capitalist. We need a Capitalism Party in Canada!
I'm a bit shocked, to be honest, that the dippers made such crazy claims. I thought they'd be smart enough to move to the middle and try to broaden their base. Now they will remain as a fringe party.
It's always easy to fall into the trap of over-strategizing between elections. No one but us junkies pays attention to convention resolutions. The NDP base is pretty firm and steady. Maybe the resolutions provoke a few Greens to stay in the NDP tent, but not in such numbers as would make any difference.
But the Election will be here in less than 12 months......personally, I just hope that we'll have a bit more time before the next one. After all, I think Canadians are tired of going to the poll so often.
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