This might generate more sour e-mails from annoyed socialists but it needs to be said: New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair does have a role to play in Canadian politics. While Babel-on-the-Bay knew his mission to keep the NDP in second place in parliament was doomed throughout 2015, we hold to our suggestion of the time. He has a role to play in bringing the social democrats of his party into the Liberal Party of Canada.
And that can be done with pride. As a federal Liberal, Tom Mulcair has much to offer the Liberals and the Liberal government. He has much to offer our country.
The very fact that Mulcair’s New Democrats held on to 16 of the seats in Quebec that were at risk in the October election shows a strength that was unexpected. While holding those seats was more because of the four-way vote split, that also tells you something.
While this writer might be identified by some writers as a “promiscuous progressive” we do not consider Liberals and New Democrats to be interchangeable. They bring different strengths to the table. It is the combination of NDP social activism and Liberal individual rights that will create a powerful social democrat or liberal democratic party.
The public perception that the New Democrats are going nowhere is one created by the NDP itself. It was almost impossible for the Canadian voter to follow the meanderings of NDP federal campaign of 2015. In trying to move to the middle of the political spectrum, the party lost touch with its base. It was hardly the party Canadians have respected since the days of Tommy Douglas.
In many ways, the Trudeau campaign ran to the political left of the New Democrats. It was a replay of the fiasco in Ontario the year before when the provincial New Democrats lost direction and the election to Ontario’s so-called Liberals.
You would think that political people across Canada would have learned the basics of political strategy from Stephen Harper. Whether right or wrong, the voters clearly understood what they were getting from Harper’s Conservatives. The NDP confused us.
It was the same pattern as we saw earlier last year when Notley’s Alberta NDP defeated a split right wing. The provincial Liberals were missing in action and Alberta voters had a clear choice.
The reason there was no strategic voting on October 19 was because it had already happened. The voters had picked the Trudeau Liberals. Those moveable votes had already moved.
The next step is to bring the social democratic New Democrats into the Liberal tent.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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