April 22, 2016 -- A fracturing of Canada's social democratic party has opened as party members and much of its electoral base express their dissatisfaction with the conservative economic, social and environmental policies that predominate in the party's decision-making echelons.
Dissension came to a head at the New Democratic Party's national convention in Edmonton, Alberta April 8 to 10. Party leader Tom Mulcair was rebuked in a confidence vote on his continued leadership, failing to reach even fifty per cent support of the 2,800 delegates gathered.
One of the clearest memories I have from my only trip to Norway is the repeated failures at hitching a ride. What appeared to be an unbroken string of brand new Audi's and BMW's whizzed by my friend and I, dirty and sweaty after a few days hiking and camping in the mountains. "Where am I that the comforts of our rich assholes are the rights of common citizens?", I remember thinking.
The Leap Manifesto has recently found itself at the centre of controversy, with pipelines in particular acting as a wedge between various factions and regional representatives of the NDP.
The Manifesto effectively calls for a moratorium on :infrastructure projects that lock us into increased extraction decades into the future." As a supporter of the social and ecological principles that undergird Leap, I can get behind this statement.
April 13, 2016 - When Rachel Notley's NDP came to power last spring in Alberta, Gordon Laxer's book, After the Sands: Energy and Ecological Security for Canadians, on ecological renewal and Canadian petro-politics was already at the publisher. And so, he was given a week to do some major rewriting because he had not foreseen this political earthquake in the making.
[One 'translation' offered by Marv Gandall on the Socialist Project list: "We’re working on a vague climate change resolution which will preempt debate at the riding level, ensure that we’re not saddled with anything remotely resembling the Leap Manifesto, and align the party with the fossil fuel dependent NDP government in Alberta."]
One of the NDP's longest-serving MPs says the party can survive the controversial Leap Manifesto, and is already at work behind closed doors to bridge its recently very public divides.
April 14, 2016 - Well, the Leap is certainly in the news. Many articles have been filled with errors and misrepresentations, which isn't surprising. It makes perfect sense that right-leaning publications and competing political parties would seek to bury the NDP at a time when it is engaged in a process of open soul-searching. We should expect more, however, from commentators on the left.
Apr. 11, 2016 - B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan wants to form a common front with the Alberta NDP government in opposition to the federal party’s proposed policy manifesto aiming to wean Canada off fossil fuels by 2050.
Mr. Horgan is currently under fire from labour leaders for his opposition to two major energy projects in B.C. on environmental grounds.
