The New Democratic Party Needs Reflection Before Rebuilding

A long, wide-open leadership race could be a good start.

The brain-trust in the federal NDP would have us believe that they are the victims of political circumstance. Donald Trump is to blame for their sudden collapse at the ballot-box. No thinking required. Just wait for better times...

Don't let them get away with it. The NDP just brought itself to its worst electoral result in the entire history of the party. This can't be sugar-coated and shouldn't be ignored. Let the reckoning begin.

The problems for the NDP cannot be blamed solely on Jagmeet Singh. If the strategists and stalwarts are left to guide the NDP into a new leadership, without significantly changing course the party may be finished entirely. The electorate has spoken loud and clear: they don't want a second Liberal Party.

Those who claim the party's dismal performance is a result of Donald Trump's antics will have difficulty explaining the weakness of the party before Trump's trade war. The simple truth is that the NDP was not connecting with voters. Before Carney came along, and Trump threatened Canada's sovereignty, the NDP was already on the path to defeat. Pierre Poilievre was seen as the almost-inevitable next Prime Minister. Nobody thought the NDP was a serious alternative to the Liberal government they had just spent years propping up. The Conservatives gained traction as opposition while the NDP solidified itself as weak supporters of the status-quo. This disaster is the result.

A leadership race is an opportunity to change course. More than that, it is an opportunity to have a broad discussion about the future direction of the party. The biggest threat to this renewal process comes from powerbrokers within the party that will seek to shape and control the party's democracy. The gradual decline of internal democracy within the NDP has been apparent for some time. Excessive vetting processes prevent candidates critical of leadership from even running. Conventions are transformed into cheer-leading sessions, rather than places of thoughtful debate. Huge upfront fees are imposed on anyone seeking to run for leader in the first place. These and other restrictions on democracy need to be tossed out the window. It is time to put the democracy back in the New Democratic Party.

A drawn-out, wide-open leadership race would benefit the party tremendously. It would allow for competing points of view to come forward, and give people an opportunity to campaign for ideas that matter to them. The membership drive associated with such a race would build the base of the NDP, bringing in new activists with a diverse range of views and experience. Opening up this broad discussion will not only bring new ideas and direction, but also give reason for the many thousands of life-long NDP supporters (myself included) who have been alienated by the recent direction the party has taken, to come back.

Conversely, a short, tightly-controlled leadership race, with an artificially narrowed field of candidates, would lock the party into the disastrous direction it has been heading. It would be a missed opportunity to recruit tens of thousands of new members and activists to the party.

The NDP must re-establish itself as the political voice of social movements and the organized working class. It's time to kick-open the doors. Sunlight and fresh air are needed.