The romance of the Leap Manifesto fails in the face of reality: hard-line socialism defies democracy
Alberta Premier Rachael Notley was “disappointed” when the recent federal NDP convention in Edmonton adopted the Leap Manifesto as a guide to party policy. She should not be alone. The Leap’s anti-hydrocarbon agenda was adopted despite being branded by Notley’s environment minister as a betrayal of the people who voted for the party in Alberta.…
The LEAP Manifesto is a paean to an imaginary world that is, in a counterintuitive way, dismally pessimistic
Canada's political pundits are slavering with glee. They're all agog at the opportunity to dive into the perceived spaces between the N, the D and the P – and do what pundits do: speculate, postulate and from time to time, prevaricate. The current object of their affections is the NDP's support of the LEAP Manifesto…
Five areas creating tension within the progressive movement must be resolved
Progressive politics is clearly on a roll in Canada. In fact, some pundits question whether it has run out of new places to go. The next few months in federal politics should be telling. New Democrats were just in Edmonton for their federal convention. The Liberals hold their national convention in Winnipeg in May. The…
NDP prepares to jettison its founding vision and sacrifice Alberta workers on the altar of extreme environmentalism
History has caught up with the federal New Democratic Party. The third party emerged in the 1960s, at a time when there seemed to be little difference between the Liberals and then-Progressive Conservatives. The democratic socialist alternative stood for everything the two establishment parties did not: the little guy, organized labour, the environment, gender equality…
Why are so-called progressive thinkers so afraid of sharing and legitimately debating ideas?
At the recent Broadbent Institute conference, progressive icon Gloria Steinem dropped a clanger that rates high among the most fatuous thoughts of this addled decade. “The power of the State,” Steinem opined, “stops at the skin.” Even in this moment of Donald Trump turning political speech into Mad Hatter word balloons, Steinem’s nine-word pronouncement can…
News media increasingly less literate on complex issues simply because they no longer have the time to bone up on the basics
‘Facts’ should be the arbiters of truth. But facts lose their efficacy when they are enslaved to perspectives rarely connected factually to each other. It’s the interplay between ‘facts’ and ‘opinion’ that does a disservice to the facts – and to anyone interested in learning the facts. Witness how the facts lost the credibility battle with…
We should not equate change with progress, but we should expect real leadership from our prime minister
Justin Trudeau’s penchant for platitudes masks an unwillingness – or inability – to tell the difference between progress and change. Waggish columnist John Robson observes in the National Post that Trudeau's maiden speech as prime minister to the Davos Economic Forum left out much while not leaving out nearly enough. Our prime minister's oration this…
Many politicians spend most their time responding to constituents who get their information from bloggers with axes to grind
What’s bugging Bubba, and the old school, Republican and Conservative base in the U.S. and Canada? A superb Ryan Lizza article in the Dec. 14, 2015, New Yorker hits the nail on the head. The piece focuses on the radical Republicans in the U.S. Congress, and their relentless push of the far right political agenda.…
Two-tier care and extra-billing being sold to the public as strategies for saving health care
National Medicare Week has just passed, buoyed with optimism as a fresh-faced government takes the reins in Ottawa – elected partly on a promise of renewed federal leadership on health care. Yet these “sunny ways” are overcast by recent developments at the provincial level that entrench and legitimize two-tier care. Saskatchewan has just enacted a…
Despite the hype, Canadian conservatism will recover
Politics, by nature, is a system of ebbs and flows. Ideological positions pass in and out of vogue with the electorate. Support for certain policy positions, including the size of government, taxes, funding of social services and international affairs, swings frequently on the left-right pendulum. Political parties and leaders are called triumphant warriors in one…