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modernization

Tuesday March 27, 2012

March 27, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday March 27, 2012 Thomas Mulcair: a principled pragmatist who hits to hurt As Thomas Mulcair rises to the position of Leader of the Official Opposition, he doesnÕt fear Conservative attempts to define him as aÊvicious, hard-left socialist and quickly drag down his standing among Canadian voters who are just getting to know him. ÒI come from a family of 10 children, there is nothing that they can say about me that would be worse than what IÕve heard from myÊbrothers and sisters,Ó the new NDP Leader said at his inaugural news conference. The 57-year-old fluently bilingual lawyer likes to speak about being born in Ontario, growing up in Quebec and having roots acrossÊCanada as his siblings have spread out in the West. The second-born is a product of a bilingual household of Irish descent, in which theÊoldest children went to English school and the youngest ones were taught in French. Mr. Mulcair has politics in his blood, as his lineage on his francophone motherÕs side includes HonorŽ Mercier, a Quebec premier fromÊ1887 to 1891. Some of his best childhood memories include discussions on public affairs at home, or with a Catholic priest at his English-language high school in Laval, north of Montreal. His plans as leader are not so much to rewrite NDP policy as to improve the partyÕs organization and to tweak its messaging for the 21stÊcentury. ÒWe have to refresh our discourse, modernize our approach, and use a language that pleases our supporters, but also attracts people whoÊshare our vision,Ó said Mr. Mulcair, who won on the fourth ballot of the NDP leadership convention on Saturday.Ê(Source: Globe & Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/thomas-mulcair-a-principled-pragmatist-who-hits-to-hurt/article2380924/?from=sec431 Canada, Thomas Mulcair, modernization, NDP, beards, hair, trimmer, whiskers, shave

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday March 27, 2012

Thomas Mulcair: a principled pragmatist who hits to hurt

As Thomas Mulcair rises to the position of Leader of the Official Opposition, he doesn’t fear Conservative attempts to define him as a vicious, hard-left socialist and quickly drag down his standing among Canadian voters who are just getting to know him.

“I come from a family of 10 children, there is nothing that they can say about me that would be worse than what I’ve heard from my brothers and sisters,” the new NDP Leader said at his inaugural news conference.

The 57-year-old fluently bilingual lawyer likes to speak about being born in Ontario, growing up in Quebec and having roots across Canada as his siblings have spread out in the West. The second-born is a product of a bilingual household of Irish descent, in which theÊoldest children went to English school and the youngest ones were taught in French.

Mr. Mulcair has politics in his blood, as his lineage on his francophone mother’s side includes HonorŽ Mercier, a Quebec premier from 1887 to 1891. Some of his best childhood memories include discussions on public affairs at home, or with a Catholic priest at his English-language high school in Laval, north of Montreal.

His plans as leader are not so much to rewrite NDP policy as to improve the party’s organization and to tweak its messaging for the 21st century.

“We have to refresh our discourse, modernize our approach, and use a language that pleases our supporters, but also attracts people who share our vision,” said Mr. Mulcair, who won on the fourth ballot of the NDP leadership convention on Saturday. (Source: Globe & Mail)

Posted in: Canada Tagged: beards, Canada, hair, modernization, NDP, shave, Thomas Mulcair, trimmer, whiskers

Saturday August 28, 1999

August 28, 1999 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 28, 1999

The NDP Should Stand its Ground For All Our Sakes

If character can be judged on how well, how strongly, an institution holds to its fundamental beliefs in times of crisis, we fear for the future of the federal New Democratic Party.

So should its members, gathering in Ottawa today and tomorrow for the NDP’s national convention. There, they will argue calls from party leader Alexa McDonough and other party moderates for federal tax cuts and a more “business-friendly” approach by the party. It promises to be a raucous debate: Canadian Auto Workers’ head Buzz Hargrove has already proclaimed that McDonough’s call for tax cuts will “destroy” the party, while the Canadian Labour Congress’s Ken Georgetti says it is necessary to party renewal. We tend — and this might be a first — to agree with Hargrove.

A so-called strategic move to the right would move the NDP into the fuzzy, blurry space occupied by the ever-less-distinguishable Liberals and Tories. Not only would that be a shame, but it might sound the death knell of the party that, to many Canadians, has often seemed the real opposition to the government of the day.

We have never supported the New Democrats as a viable choice for government — old news to the Hamilton area’s labour community that has long been a friend of the NDP — but we have never underestimated the party’s value to Canadians.

The NDP has been far more than a gadfly party espousing contrarian positions. At its best, it has been a national social conscience, reminding Parliament, provincial legislatures and Canadians as a whole of what really matters, especially when times are tough.

Much of what Canadians value about our society and how we define ourselves — including large parts of the social safety net that protects society’s most vulnerable members (and there, but for the grace of God, go all of us) — came out of the windmill-tilting resolve and fervour of NDP leaders Tommy Douglas, David Lewis and Ed Broadbent.

It was most often when the NDP held the balance of power over minority governments that working-class Canadians best saw their needs recognized and met.

Having said that, we cannot blame McDonough and her advisers for looking for new ideas, new proposals, with which to reach out to Canadians. Much of the socialism of the past — nationalization, tax increases for the so-called wealthy that actually penalized middle-class families — simply won’t wash today. Canadians not only know they are over-taxed, but are increasingly demanding relief. They want less government, by and large, not more.

And that is precisely why the NDP — even while modernizing itself — must hold its philosophical ground. It is when Canadians risk becoming selfish — individually and as a society — that we most need the prod to wakefulness, the call to altruism, that the NDP has traditionally provided. Even a starving man needs an angel on his shoulder to remind him to leave something for the next hungry soul.

To cater to the populist, although justified, demand for tax cuts shows a disappointing lack of moral courage.

Yes, it is tough being a socialist these days. Yes, it is lonely always being the third, or fourth, party. No, being a national conscience is not as rewarding as being a prime minister or leader of the opposition.

But seeking party popularity by blurring distinctions can be fatal. The NDP is looking down a road that may well lead to its demise. And Canada would be much the poorer for it. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial, D12, 8/28/1999)

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Canada, CCF, Ed Broadbent, Garage Sale, J.S. Woodsworth, Liquidation, modernization, NDP, principles

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This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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