Canada's left party may be undertaking the bold experiment of indulging in overt, unapologetic class politics. Risks include energizing members and winning.
I have been hoping Matthew Green would enter the race. When David interviewed Matthew he came off as quite insightful grounded yet eloquent far from a champagne socialist but radical in the sense he went to the root of our problems: concentrated private wealth.
He's been completely silent on Gaza. That cannot be a winning strategy for this race, or a larger federal one. Hopefully that'll change as his campaign kicks off. But I'm not expecting it.
Gaza is an important issue, but - worthy or no - Gaza has ever been perceived by working Canadians as a preoccupation of academia rather than having broader relevance to Canadians. I'm guessing your answer would a hard no, but I'll pose the stupid question anyway: seeing as Canada's ability to influence the Israelis is negligible, would you ever be willing to make the tradeoff of an NDP with broader cultural relevance, even if it spoke less directly to the concerns of the Palestinians?
I realize it is easy to infer from my question that the genocide in Palestine is relatively unimportant. I do not believe that. However, I do believe the different sympathies in this conflict have, for working people, become coded as woke vs. non-woke, and that in turn this has undermined the ability of those who want to do good for the people of Gaza to persuade the unpersuaded.
I see the labour movement in Europe making themselves inextricable from Gaza. It would be nice to see someone inspire that here. Just look to what's happening in Italy. Pipe dream? Maybe. But there's a big gulf between organizing nationwide strikes, saying something, and saying nothing. Saying nothing doesn't build confidence that someone will actually show up for the fights worth fighting.
Tanille Johnston, former Campbell River city councilor and NDP candidate, is running too. As is farmer Tony McQuail who is eager to merge with the Greens. Though I'm not sure either have a large enough lane to make a serious splash.
My perception over the last few yrs has been that the power of the party is still anchored in the 60s. A fresh approach would be welcome in our political mainstream
Rob Ashton spent his life in the coal industry. Elevating him means once again isolating the climate movement and not leading on the green transition. The NDP has already tried that for decades, repeatedly allowing the LPC and Greens to own the issue. The climate fight IS the workers' fight IS the class struggle. Rob Ashton will NEVER understand that.
What a delightful column. I identify as conversative but on a provincial level vote NDP in an effort to keep the MAGA barbarians from the gates. However, I never vote NDP with relish. The wokery has always cloyed, as had the NDP's associated distance from the working class.
Gil McGowan's criticism of the party as composed almost exclusively of the professional classes where rig workers or welders would feel distinctly ill-at-ease. The idea of an NDP leader who speaks the language of the working glass is like a breath of fresh air.
Would I vote for a fire-breathing federal NDP who had a yen for class warfare? Probably not. At the same time, I believe Canadian politics would be all the better for having a party that represents the working people who do not feel at home with the politics of MAGA-lite.
The party executive and leadership is almost exclusively held by union staffers - what's wrong with the NDP has significant overlap with what's wrong with labour leadership in this country which Ashton represents. He'll have to address this ongoing failure.
Sounds like Rob is the man Pierre pretends to be. Would be interesting to see what would happen if he were given the platform.
I have been hoping Matthew Green would enter the race. When David interviewed Matthew he came off as quite insightful grounded yet eloquent far from a champagne socialist but radical in the sense he went to the root of our problems: concentrated private wealth.
He's been completely silent on Gaza. That cannot be a winning strategy for this race, or a larger federal one. Hopefully that'll change as his campaign kicks off. But I'm not expecting it.
Gaza is an important issue, but - worthy or no - Gaza has ever been perceived by working Canadians as a preoccupation of academia rather than having broader relevance to Canadians. I'm guessing your answer would a hard no, but I'll pose the stupid question anyway: seeing as Canada's ability to influence the Israelis is negligible, would you ever be willing to make the tradeoff of an NDP with broader cultural relevance, even if it spoke less directly to the concerns of the Palestinians?
I realize it is easy to infer from my question that the genocide in Palestine is relatively unimportant. I do not believe that. However, I do believe the different sympathies in this conflict have, for working people, become coded as woke vs. non-woke, and that in turn this has undermined the ability of those who want to do good for the people of Gaza to persuade the unpersuaded.
I see the labour movement in Europe making themselves inextricable from Gaza. It would be nice to see someone inspire that here. Just look to what's happening in Italy. Pipe dream? Maybe. But there's a big gulf between organizing nationwide strikes, saying something, and saying nothing. Saying nothing doesn't build confidence that someone will actually show up for the fights worth fighting.
Silent on genocide. Denialist on climate and the green transition. Rob belongs to the 1970s. Not the leader the NDP needs.
Tanille Johnston, former Campbell River city councilor and NDP candidate, is running too. As is farmer Tony McQuail who is eager to merge with the Greens. Though I'm not sure either have a large enough lane to make a serious splash.
My perception over the last few yrs has been that the power of the party is still anchored in the 60s. A fresh approach would be welcome in our political mainstream
Rob Ashton spent his life in the coal industry. Elevating him means once again isolating the climate movement and not leading on the green transition. The NDP has already tried that for decades, repeatedly allowing the LPC and Greens to own the issue. The climate fight IS the workers' fight IS the class struggle. Rob Ashton will NEVER understand that.
What a delightful column. I identify as conversative but on a provincial level vote NDP in an effort to keep the MAGA barbarians from the gates. However, I never vote NDP with relish. The wokery has always cloyed, as had the NDP's associated distance from the working class.
Gil McGowan's criticism of the party as composed almost exclusively of the professional classes where rig workers or welders would feel distinctly ill-at-ease. The idea of an NDP leader who speaks the language of the working glass is like a breath of fresh air.
Would I vote for a fire-breathing federal NDP who had a yen for class warfare? Probably not. At the same time, I believe Canadian politics would be all the better for having a party that represents the working people who do not feel at home with the politics of MAGA-lite.
The party executive and leadership is almost exclusively held by union staffers - what's wrong with the NDP has significant overlap with what's wrong with labour leadership in this country which Ashton represents. He'll have to address this ongoing failure.
Vote leaf blower