News and views from SA Canada NDP Leader race crowded, on the right
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Feral cabinet minister who takes pride in his role in early “free trade” negotiations, brings a decidedly pro-capitalist, anti-Quebec self-determination perspective to the New Democratic Party leadership race. When Mulcair announced his candidacy, he had the backing of 15 MPs, soon likely 30, but few supporters outside of the ranks of strongly pro-federalist Quebecers.
British Columbia MP Nathan Cullen, another leader ship contender, advocates a “non-compete agreement” with the Liberal and Green parties. While the stated aim is to unite anti-Conservative votes in the next federal election, such a move, welcomed by the proLiberal media as a step towards merger, would destroy the NDP as a party independent of the business class. And it would drown generations of working-class so cial gains.
Ottawa MP Paul Dewar promises that as NDP Leader he would give city governments more say—even a seat at federal-provincial ministers’ meetings. Dewar, until recently NDP foreign affairs critic in Parliament, de fended the bombing of Libya by Canadian Forces. He supports the Canada-UN occupation of Haiti, opposed the Canadian Boat to Gaza, and rejects boycott, sanc tions, and divestment towards the Zionist apartheid state.
Among other candidates for NDP Leader, Northern Quebec MP Romeo Saganash, a Cree leader, has yet to detail his policy positions. Nova Scotia pharmacist Martin Singh extols the virtues of entrepreneurship.
On Oct. 28, Toronto MP and former Canadian Auto Workers negotiator Peggy Nash declared her candida cy. Her platform, in the words of Toronto Star colum nist Thomas Walkom, “is straight-up NDP orthodoxy”: “address social inequality ... and boost corporate taxes to pay for it.” The only point of differentiation is Nash’s praise for the Occupy movement.
That brings us to the never-elected-to-public-office Brian Topp, touted as the front-runner. He enjoys the backing of the Steelworkers’ Union and party icons Ed Broadbent and Roy Romanow. Lately, Topp called for higher taxes on corporate profits and big income earn ers.
But he is a very unlikely candidate of the left. Topp rescued the party establishment from embarrassing defeat at the federal NDP convention in Vancouver in June when he moved to refer back to the executive its Socialist Action proposal to delete the word “socialist” from the party constitution preamble. Post-convention, the preamble disappeared from the federal party website—a sleazy move typical of the backroom politics associated with Topp and company.
Sadly, leftist B.C. MPs Libby Davies and Peter Julian opted out of the race. Bizarrely, Davies subsequently endorsed Topp, the man who as federal campaign director presided over the party’s steady shift to the right. The dearth of meaningful choices for NDP Lead er poses a serious challenge to the NDP and to the an ti-capitalist left: either raise the thousands of dollars needed to run a socialist candidate for Leader, or find other ways to fight for a Workers’ Agenda in the only mass, labour-based political party in North America.
The global Occupy movement, a whole generation of concerned environmentalists, and millions of the victims of war and capitalist economic crisis cry out for a socialist alternative inside the mainstream of the workers’ movement, where it matters most. n of the Toronto Oct. 15 type, with most of the organizing taking place in the short span of one week. The experience augurs well for future such endeavors.
One week later, over 1500 supporters of Occupy Toronto marched to City Hall under grey skies. On Saturday, Oct. 22, the parade made its way along King St., Bay St., to City Hall Square, and following speeches, returned to St. James Park, just east of the financial headquarters of Ca nadian capitalism. A number of social jus tice movements, and half a dozen leftist groups, carried signs and banners. They were joined by scores of union activists. The core of the march consisted of the 200 or so denizens of the park encamp ment, and hundreds of regular visitors to the Occupy Toronto site.
Socialist Action members carried a banner bearing the slogan, “Nationalize the banks, steel and auto, under work ers’ control!” We sold over 50 copies of SA newspaper. Dozens of people walked in the SA contingent, and chanted with us: “Cutbacks? No thanks. Nationalize the banks!” “Money for schools, not for war!” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, (mayor) Rob Ford’s got to go!” — BARRY WEISLEDER