Future of the NDP

Posted on: 11 May 2009 by Alan Echenberg

Tonight on the Agenda, the latest in a series of programs on the state of the major federal political parties.

Five months ago, the NDP was poised to help defeat the recently elected Conservatives and to share power in a coalition government with Stéphane Dion's Liberals. The coalition plan originated in leader Jack Layton's office and had it come to fruition, it would have been the first time in Canadian history that federal New Democrats sat in cabinet.

The plan, of course, did not come to fruition. Months later, Stephen Harper's party is still in power. The Liberals dumped Dion, replaced him with Michael Ignatieff (who killed off the coalition), and have risen steadily in the polls ever since.

What about the NDP? Some observers say the death of the coalition has put the NDP into a bit of a political funk, its poll numbers down, its role in Parliament diminished, and its voice on the national scene quieted.

Here's what NDP strategist Brian Topp told the Globe and Mail recently:

"The New Democrat caucus tried to do a big thing - tried to replace the government. And it didn't happen. That's the most memorable thing our team has done so far in this parliament. Undertakings that don't succeed don't build support. The essentially seamless unity of purpose between the Harper Conservatives and the Ignatieff Liberals does now create an opportunity for the NDP - one New Democrats know they need to step up to by shaking off the events of November and addressing the issues Canadians are focused on today. If the NDP succeeds in doing this, we'll (hopefully) be rewarded in the polls."

What do you think? Please tune in to the discussion tonight (or online afterward) and give me your take on the federal NDP in the space below.

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Comments

Jack`s mum-correct facts ,please

Jack is not 60-- until 2010 ! As for being A Monrealer, he has lived in Toronto since he was 22--To be sure he has a feel for their needs,having been a student at Mcgill at the time of the FLQ uprising

posted by MPSMUM on 12 May 2009 at 11:57 AM

The Future of the NDP

What we, the electorate, want is a new politic where relevance points the way, where the system serves the people not itself, and where those who would be elected understand that political party affiliations only serve to exclude, to censor and to stunt real change. The future life of the NDP, and politics, lives here no more.

posted by L N on 12 May 2009 at 4:52 PM