Lost in what otherwise is a fine article is any reference to the modern NDPs affectations with pro Palestinian politics. Both McPherson and Lewis' views on this are well known and will also closely align with the views of young people who get their cues from TikTok and faculty members across many university campuses.
Viewing Israel as a colonial power imposing its oversized will against a weak Gaza society turns history and logic upside down. It's dangerous territory and the front runners need to provide clarity to the Jews in Canada who are fearful for their lives and also to those of us who can't believe the overt antisemitism that is bubbling out into the open.
NDP anti semitism - along with deification of Hamas “martyrs” - will certainly gain the party political points in Quebec where blaming Jews for everything is a centuries-old tradition.
Canadian journalists are prone to be very antagonistic towards "right wing populism", which is firmly rooted in western Canadian culture. Left unspoken is the "left wing populism" of western Canada which through the odd change of garments became the NDP.
As the author notes, the NDP was also built upon prairie pragmatism that dreamed big but realized that incremental change would keep the broader public on side. The radicals who wanted everything NOW would have to put some water in their wine.
The current leadership aspirants could do themselves a big favour and adapt a pragmatic approach that identifies life for ordinary people and addresses their concerns in ways that are tangible and meaningful. The NDP went all in on identity politics, which creates a divisive hierarchy of privilege that is the antithesis of equality and fairness for all. As it stands now, the NDP is not interested in fairness and has taken hostility towards men to new heights with quota targets that discourage men from participating in the leadership race. Petty, shortsighted and arrogant.
I don’t see much hope for the federal NDP with either of these choices for leader. While Avi is somewhat charismatic, he is way too far left to be successful. He also appears to have no common sense. Heather has no charisma whatsoever and I can’t see her playing on the same field with Carney and Poilievre . Very likely to meet the same fate as McLaughlin and McDonagh.
Thank you Jag for deep sixing this party. My Dad was a confirmed NDP member for decades and being from Saskatchewan had met Tommy Douglas who he says was a great man and a true leader. My Dad was also a little nuts..so there's that. But anyway, hope the party folds it's tent or else thinks for itself and not a even leftier party than the Liberals. They could go back to their common-sense roots. That might work? nah.
Rob Ashton has been fairly quiet on the Israel-hating front, not entirely silent, but now that he's in the leadership race, he's Tweeted how "appalled" he is at the treatment of the "aid flotilla" to Gaza that wasn't carrying any aid, presumably to shore up his position with the NDP's antisemitic base.
I'm surprised Tammy Robert doesn't mention Heather Robinson's Israel-bashing, as that's been Robinson's main thing for the past two years. It's what's given her prominence, and probably edges out climate change as the number one obsession of NDP activists.
At this point MacPherson seems the only hope to revive a moribund party. I don't think Canada wants to listen to Lewis and his sermons about the Evil One Per Cent.
Thanks The Line Editors for curating this piece. I'm glad to be informed. It's kinda depressing hearing about the choices, given the roots of the NDP, and their leaders from other eras . But good to know.
I hope that McPherson wins it. A Lewis victory would likely sound the death knell for the party as a credible political force.
And I do hope that she tacks away from overt support for either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Better to focus on domestic politics and the relationship with the United States. There be much political capital to mine on these fronts (and only division on the Israeli-Palestinian front).
I hail from ‘70s Oshawa and even though I moved from coast to coast with the Navy, and my politics slowly shifted rightwards, I was happy to keep my home electoral district to vote for Ed Broadbent. I was even happier when settling in Ottawa to occasionally bump into him on Elgin Street, and exchange pleasantries as he recognized me (he was retired by then, so my *home* adjusted). If Ashton is the closest they have to a modern-day ed, they’re deservedly sunk.
Lost in what otherwise is a fine article is any reference to the modern NDPs affectations with pro Palestinian politics. Both McPherson and Lewis' views on this are well known and will also closely align with the views of young people who get their cues from TikTok and faculty members across many university campuses.
Viewing Israel as a colonial power imposing its oversized will against a weak Gaza society turns history and logic upside down. It's dangerous territory and the front runners need to provide clarity to the Jews in Canada who are fearful for their lives and also to those of us who can't believe the overt antisemitism that is bubbling out into the open.
NDP anti semitism - along with deification of Hamas “martyrs” - will certainly gain the party political points in Quebec where blaming Jews for everything is a centuries-old tradition.
Canadian journalists are prone to be very antagonistic towards "right wing populism", which is firmly rooted in western Canadian culture. Left unspoken is the "left wing populism" of western Canada which through the odd change of garments became the NDP.
As the author notes, the NDP was also built upon prairie pragmatism that dreamed big but realized that incremental change would keep the broader public on side. The radicals who wanted everything NOW would have to put some water in their wine.
The current leadership aspirants could do themselves a big favour and adapt a pragmatic approach that identifies life for ordinary people and addresses their concerns in ways that are tangible and meaningful. The NDP went all in on identity politics, which creates a divisive hierarchy of privilege that is the antithesis of equality and fairness for all. As it stands now, the NDP is not interested in fairness and has taken hostility towards men to new heights with quota targets that discourage men from participating in the leadership race. Petty, shortsighted and arrogant.
I don’t see much hope for the federal NDP with either of these choices for leader. While Avi is somewhat charismatic, he is way too far left to be successful. He also appears to have no common sense. Heather has no charisma whatsoever and I can’t see her playing on the same field with Carney and Poilievre . Very likely to meet the same fate as McLaughlin and McDonagh.
Thank you Jag for deep sixing this party. My Dad was a confirmed NDP member for decades and being from Saskatchewan had met Tommy Douglas who he says was a great man and a true leader. My Dad was also a little nuts..so there's that. But anyway, hope the party folds it's tent or else thinks for itself and not a even leftier party than the Liberals. They could go back to their common-sense roots. That might work? nah.
Rob Ashton has been fairly quiet on the Israel-hating front, not entirely silent, but now that he's in the leadership race, he's Tweeted how "appalled" he is at the treatment of the "aid flotilla" to Gaza that wasn't carrying any aid, presumably to shore up his position with the NDP's antisemitic base.
I'm surprised Tammy Robert doesn't mention Heather Robinson's Israel-bashing, as that's been Robinson's main thing for the past two years. It's what's given her prominence, and probably edges out climate change as the number one obsession of NDP activists.
At this point MacPherson seems the only hope to revive a moribund party. I don't think Canada wants to listen to Lewis and his sermons about the Evil One Per Cent.
Does any of them speak French?
Apparently MacPherson can muddle her way through a speech. Hopefully she is taking lessons. Maybe she spend some time in Montreal with Alexandre.
And time with the disarmament fanatics of Poly Se Souvient.
Thanks The Line Editors for curating this piece. I'm glad to be informed. It's kinda depressing hearing about the choices, given the roots of the NDP, and their leaders from other eras . But good to know.
I hope that McPherson wins it. A Lewis victory would likely sound the death knell for the party as a credible political force.
And I do hope that she tacks away from overt support for either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Better to focus on domestic politics and the relationship with the United States. There be much political capital to mine on these fronts (and only division on the Israeli-Palestinian front).
I hail from ‘70s Oshawa and even though I moved from coast to coast with the Navy, and my politics slowly shifted rightwards, I was happy to keep my home electoral district to vote for Ed Broadbent. I was even happier when settling in Ottawa to occasionally bump into him on Elgin Street, and exchange pleasantries as he recognized me (he was retired by then, so my *home* adjusted). If Ashton is the closest they have to a modern-day ed, they’re deservedly sunk.