Just returned from the NDP policy convention. While I'm not pleased that those assembled voted to replace the preamble with a more touchy-feely document (the vote was something 900 to 200), I was delighted the convention kicked off with Joseph Stiglitz talking about the dangers of austerity (!!!) and proceeded with a number of speakers and policy discussions that deal with a wealth of problems.
Compare that with the coronation, also this weekend, of Justin Trudeau. That the Libs decided not to have a real convention is very interesting: it shows their financial problems since real conventions cost a lot of money, and underlines the paucity of ideas coming from Trudeau and those around him.
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3 comments:
Get real, Mary. Tommy Douglas must be spinning in his grave after the laundering Mulcair & Co. gave the NDP. I used to know some of the true believers, guys like David Lewis. Thank goodness, for them, that they're not here to have to watch their party get Tony Blairified.
Blairdom is a danger, but so is letting Stephen Harper and his Conservatives continue. Better TM for PM than the Libs who really have very few principles.
One of the many problems with Blairism, though, is that it destroys the alternative to the damage Thatcher and her ilk (and evil spawn Harper) have caused. I'm thinking in particular with respect to public transport and town planning (including social housing) which bear a relationship to your blog's centres of interest.
Britain had the first railways in the world, and at one point (I don't know if this is still the case) railway service degenerated to such a point that the trip from London to Manchester took longer than it did 100 years earlier...
I don't think the NDP has degenerated to the same extent as the Labour Party under Blair (for one thing, it has never advocated for or been involved in imperialist war), but I don't like the way they watered down references to socialism and public ownership in the preamble.
In fairness though, there are some good new additions to the preamble, in terms of the environment, and the party has taken a firm stance on the recognition of Indigenous rights and support to the Idle No More movement.
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