NDP

Friday September 25, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 25, 2020

Feds begin new sitting by boosting COVID-19 recovery benefit

January 23, 2020

The federal government has announced it is increasing one of a trio of promised new COVID-19 aid benefits, to be equivalent to the amount received through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit that will expire at the end of the month, a move that may have secured the political support needed for the Liberal minority to stay afloat.

Kicking off the first full day of the new parliamentary session, the Liberals tabled Bill C-2 to implement the new benefits, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal minority seeks opposition support to avoid a snap election during a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The House of Commons began its as-normal-as-possible sitting for the first time since the pandemic put a pause on regular business back in March. Debate in response to Wednesday’s speech from the throne will continue throughout the day, offering more MPs time to speak to whether they liked what they heard, and if it’ll be enough for them to support the government in a confidence vote.

October 23, 2019

The minority Liberals will need to garner at least some support for the throne speech from across the aisle, or risk seeing their government fall. Early indications were that this support, may not be as secure as the Liberals might like. The Liberals currently hold 154 seats, the Conservatives have 121, the Bloc Québécois hold 32, the NDP have 24, the Green Party has three and there are two Independents and two vacancies.

The speech fixated primarily on how to keep supporting Canadians financially through COVID-19, while repairing inequalities the pandemic has exposed. Billed as “an ambitious plan for an unprecedented reality,” it included a commitment to keep up certain business aid benefits, to create a national child care and job creation plan, and emphasized that Canada has to tackle climate change, systemic racism, and gender inequity.

With the Conservatives already ardently against the speech, and the Bloc Quebecois sounding like they haven’t seen enough yet, but could come around if billions in new health funding is sent to the provinces, the Liberals are looking to the NDP for support.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had said right after the throne speech that he wanted to see CERB extended and a form of paid sick leave implemented. (CTV) 

 

Thursday November 7, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 7, 2019

NDP lost a lot, but Jagmeet Singh risks losing more

January 7, 2019

Justin Trudeau will now have to find dance partners from the NDP and/or the Greens to govern. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ran a strong campaign. His line during the English language debate that voters did not have to choose between “Mr. Delay” (Trudeau) or “Mr. Deny” (Scheer) was the campaign’s most memorable zinger.

But Liberal alarmism over the prospects of NDP votes leading to a Scheer government appears to have spooked enough would-be New Democrat voters to contain any orange waves.

Singh lost all but one of his 14 Quebec MPs, the result of ground ceded in the lacklustre first 18 months of his leadership.

The compensation, if it is one, is the influence he may wield over the Liberals.

September 5, 2019

But a glance at the history books should be enough to convince Singh to tread lightly when it comes to dealing with the Grits. One of his predecessors, David Lewis, propped up Pierre Trudeau’s government after the latter won a plurality of just two seats in 1972. By the time Lewis decided to bring down Trudeau’s government  in 1974, he was in disrepute with voters, having received all of the blame and none of the credit for the preceding two years in power. In the ensuing election, the NDP lost half its parliamentary caucus.

The mercy is that no-one wants, or can afford, another election. MPs first elected in 2015 will look covetously towards pensions that will become vested after six years. Members from all sides of the House may be less enthusiastic to risk rich retirement plans.

The configuration of the new House of Commons suggests we may be about to encounter that most rare of beasts — a strong, stable, minority government. – John Ivison (National Post) 

 

Wednesday September 18, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 18, 2019

May and Singh are competing hard to finish third in this election

September 10, 2019

So far in the federal election race, Elizabeth May’s Greens and Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats remain in a virtual draw. Both leaders have, in effect, admitted that their parties have no chance at forming government. Rather, they are vying for third place in the hope of holding the balance of power should the Oct. 21 vote result in a hung Parliament.

This explains much of their behaviour. In Thursday’s leaders’ debate, for instance, they spent little time attacking Justin Trudeau, the absent Liberal prime minister. Rather they focused their ire on Conservative leader Andrew Scheer — and, to a lesser extent, on one another.

May accused Scheer of being a Donald Trump puppet, noting in particular his promise to follow the president’s lead by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

August 27, 2019

She didn’t mention that this idea had been floated 40 years ago by former Tory prime minister Joe Clark, a politician May lauded in 2015 as “wonderful.”

Singh accused Scheer of being opposed to gay marriage — citing remarks the Conservative leader made almost 15 years ago.

The reason for this combined NDP-Green animosity toward Scheer is practical. Both May and Singh are pitching to left-liberal voters who fear a Conservative victory.

To appeal to these voters, both May and Singh promote universal pharmacare. Both also insist that much, much more must be done to combat climate change.

September 29, 2008

May operates under a somewhat different calculus. A former Progressive Conservative staffer in the Brian Mulroney government, she hopes to attract disaffected Tory voters as well as those from the liberal-left.

To that end, she is promising — like Scheer — to balance Ottawa’s books in five years. She supports the idea of replacing most social programs with a guaranteed, or basic, annual income — a notion with fans on both the left and the right.

And on Thursday, she took Singh to task for promising universal, public denticare — a program she said was just too expensive. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday September 5, 2019

September 5, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 5, 2019

Can Jagmeet Singh and the NDP bounce back?

To take the full measure of the unprecedented plight of the New Democratic Party less than 50 days before the Oct. 21 federal vote consider the following:

February 27, 2019

* For the first time in decades the NDP will not be mounting a campaign tour on par with that of the Liberals and the Conservatives. Jagmeet Singh’s party is too poor to charter a dedicated plane this year.

That may come as a relief to many cash-strapped media organizations. They are effectively being spared having to decide to downsize their coverage of the NDP tour the better to devote shrinking resources to those of the two leading contenders for power.

* In what would also be a first in years, it looks like the party may not be able to field candidates across the board. What is virtually certain is that the NDP will start the campaign with less than a full slate.

The dearth of nominated candidates extends beyond regions like Atlantic Canada where the party did poorly in the last election. In Quebec, where the NDP elected its largest provincial contingent in the past two elections, more than half of the 78 ridings are still without a standard-bearer.

March 31, 2018

To come late to the battle in a competitive election (whose date is anything but a surprise) is the equivalent of fighting with one’s hand tied behind one’s back.

* Only four years after the federal New Democrats launched their most credible bid for government, they are fighting an uphill battle to hang on to third place and official party status in the next Parliament

In Quebec, the Bloc Québécois has overtaken its former NDP nemesis. On average, BQ support province-wide is three times higher than that of the New Democrats. The latter are running a distant fifth behind the Green party.

In New Brunswick,  more than a dozen former NDP candidates and organizers voted with their feet and moved over to Elizabeth May’s party earlier this week.

October 24, 2017

When it comes to apportioning blame for the predicament the party finds itself in, it is easy to point the finger at  Singh’s uncertain performance as leader or to attribute it to some latent racism inspired by the fact that he wears a turban.

Singh’s first years as leader have featured more misses than hits. His transition from the Ontario scene to Parliament Hill has not been particularly smooth. And yes, it is almost certainly hard for some voters to identify with a turban-wearing leader.

But many of the elements of the perfect storm that threatens to engulf the NDP in the upcoming election either predate his arrival at the helm or would have plagued any leader. (Continued, Toronto Star) 

 

Tuesday June 11, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 11, 2019

The politics of basketball

The country is roaring for the Raptors as they take on the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, and politicians are capitalizing on the buzz.

October 16, 2015

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both attended previous playoff games, and former U.S. president Barack Obama also made a surprise appearance at a game in Toronto.

Former high-level staff members to two prime ministers say there’s all kinds of political and personal reasons for politicians to try to tap into the Raptors’ crowd.

“It’s young, it’s urban, it’s hip, it’s diverse. And so if you’re Justin Trudeau, you dig being around that because you think that’s on brand for you. If you’re Andrew Scheer, being around that demonstrates ‘see I’m not not those things,'” Scott Reid, director of communications to former prime minister Paul Martin, told The House.

But he also cautioned it’s not just about the politics.

“Let’s not lose sight of the possibility that people are fans and occasionally politicians are also people.”

Aside from potential fan-motivations, Dennis Matthews, who served as head of advertising for former prime minister Stephen Harper, said it’s never a bad thing to be connected to a success.

“Politicians like to be associated with things that are winning,” he said.

When asked whether they thought Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be making an appearance at a finals game, they both thought it’s a possibility — though it would have to be calculated.

Both men said you don’t want a politician at a deciding game (lest a loss result in the notion they somehow cursed the game), and you don’t want them courtside (or seeming out of touch with Canadians).

The diversity of the team and Toronto has factored in to the political appearances at the games, Reid and Matthews agreed.

The team is situated in an election battleground, and the demographics represent votes to be snapped up.

“I’d be looking at that audience base and I’d be saying ‘hey I want these people to to vote for me,'” Matthews said,

Reid agreed, adding how he’d look at those votes for political strategy.

“How do I get those? Because if I do, I am bringing in new votes into the column and I’m bringing them for me.” (CBC)