NDP identity crisis deepens over ‘what went wrong’

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10 SOCIALIST ACTION DECEMBER 2015 Following a disastrous federal election campaign in which the labour-based New Democratic Party lost over a million votes and 60 per cent of its parliamentary seats, Leader Tom Mulcair disappeared for two weeks. When he re-surfaced, he launched an internal enquiry into “what went wrong.” But does he really want to know? Who, and how will he ask?

A short questionnaire sent by the fed­ eral office to members across the country was slanted towards reaffirming yester­ day’s worn-out campaign slogans. It was a superficial survey. It provided little space for critical input on policy or prin­ ciples. A fund appeal was annoyingly part of the pitch.

“We will be taking time in the months to come to analyze what happened,” Mulcair told a news conference in early Novem­ ber. “I’ve asked party president Rebecca Blaikie and national director Anne Mc­ Morneau already hinting at Liberal austerity It’s the oldest economic gambit of newly installed capi­ talist governments—the worse than expected balance sheet. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, will now show why his appoint­ ment was such a hit on Bay Street.

Morneau wasted no time to claim that the Stephen Harp­ er Conservatives left Ottawa’s finances in worse shape than anticipated, making it more difficult for the new Lib­ eral federal government to live up to its promises.

Trudeau pledged to increase Ottawa’s expenditures for infrastructure and support payments for families. He said he would run budget deficits for $9.9 billion in 2016, $9.5 billion in 2017, and $5.7 billion in 2018 before returning to a small surplus in 2019. But according to parliamentary budget officer Jean-Denis Frechette’s calculations for the next two years, the Liberal government could face a $13 billion deficit in 2016, and a $16 billion deficit in 2017.

Without a major increase in corporation and personal wealth taxes, both of which have been declining for de­ cades, Morneau will move to either cut back promised new spending or find billions in annual reductions in existing government programmes, beyond the $3 billion in savings within four years the Liberals already promised to find.

One thing is certain. Morneau, a millionaire business­ man and former executive chair of Morneau Shepell, one of the largest human resources services organizations in Canada, will not disappoint his Bay Street buddies. — B.W. Grath to start that process immediately.”

The NDP leader said he wants a “top lev­ el panel” to conduct the inquiry, including outgoing MPs, like pro-establishment fig­ ure Paul Dewar, and party elders. There don’t appear to be any socialists involved in the exercise. The Socialist Caucus, the organized left in the party whose antiwar, free university tuition, secular schools, and mass public housing policies have been adopted by party conventions, has yet to receive a call from the “top level panel.”

As Toronto Star columnist Chantal He­ bert wrote on Nov. 14, “It is as if the NDP’s establishment is determined to keep a lid on the post-election discussion and a de facto leadership review.” The effort ap­ pears to be in vain. A growing chorus of prominent members is decrying the par­ ty’s “crisis of identity.” Charlie Angus, the Timmins-James Bay MP, told the Globe and Mail, “We have to start a complete re­ building of the party, the brand and our identity.”

Cheri DiNovo, an NDP member of the Ontario Legislature, is quoted in the Dec. 1 Toronto Star: “Blaming the mainstream media and the Liberal strategists is a little like farmers blaming the weather.” “The only entity we can change ... is ourselves.” The change proposed by DiNovo is that the NDP reclaim the values of democratic socialism. It needs a vision in which “so­ cialism” isn’t a four-letter word. “We have to remember who the hell we are. And honestly, Canada’s waiting.”

The depth of the crisis was revealed in a Forum Research opinion poll published shortly after the Oct. 19 federal election. It showed that a staggering 72 per cent of NDP voters surveyed were satisfied with the election outcome. What does that say about the educational value of recent NDP campaigns when so many NDP sup­ porters seem to see so little difference between NDP and Liberal Party policies that they are comfortable with a Liberal ... LABOR (continued from page 9: “Labor Briefing”) tracting would be so unpopular.

Alexandra Bradbury offers them some more clues in an excellent Labor Notes story (labor­ notes.org/2015/11/carhaulers-vote-downawful-deal). The far from silent super-majority is demanding that three opposition leaders who are part of a reform slate challenging the Hoffa leadership in next year’s election of top officers be added to the car-haul bargaining committee.

• Not So Convenient for Workers— The Workday Minnesota website (workdaymin­ nesota.org) reports that workers occupied the lobby of the corporate headquarters of Supe­ rAmerica, a popular chain of filling stationconvenience stores in the Upper Midwest. Their demands included instituting two weeks’ notice of work schedules for all employees; establish­ ing a health and safety committee; and ensur­ ing equal pay and opportunity for promotion of people of color and women. On November 10 SA workers “marched alongside striking food service workers, janitors and other hourly workers at a large rally outside of Minneapolis majority government—even when the NDP was poised to win government up to seven weeks prior to the election?

Thus far, hardly any NDP MPs have pledged to support four more years of Mulcair in the top job. Most are being coy. Charlie Angus said his vote on the leader­ ship review issue at the federal conven­ tion, set for Edmonton, April 8-10, will depend on the ideas Mulcair puts for­ ward for a rebuild.

The NDP Socialist Caucus contends that the problem is much deeper than who is the leader. It insists that a clear break with pro-capitalist policies and undemo­ cratic internal practices is required to save Canada’s labour party. At the same time, only a move to force a leadership change will galvanize the party and la­ bour union ranks to rise up, to articulate their demands, and to take control of the process. For that reason, socialists say, “Now’s the time for Mulcair and his team to go!” n City Hall to urge city leaders to adopt policies that help working families, including raising the minimum wage, fair scheduling and an end to wage theft.”

• Making the Connection—Also from Work­ day Minnesota: “Underscoring the connection between labor rights and human rights, more than 200 Twin Cities union members and lead­ ers rallied outside the Minneapolis 4th Precinct to support community demands for justice for Jamar Clark, the 24-year-old African-American man shot and killed by police.”

• Practice Can Make Perfect—The militant Chicago Teachers Union conducted a “practice vote” to determine the readiness of the ranks to approve a real strike if need be; 97 percent in effect said bring it on. The union used a simi­ lar format—partially because of legal issues— three years ago before a strike that beat back many of the take-away demands of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Their old contract expired in the sum­ mer and currently the parties are in mediation required by state law. The CTU has worked hard to earn and maintain support from parents and the communities that was crucial to the success of their 2012 strike. n If you have a story for Labor Briefing, please contact [email protected].