It could only happen in Canada. Or at an NDP leadership convention.
First the party gives the leader the boot.
In a dramatic rejection of Tom Mulcair's time as leader of the federal NDP, delegates gathered in Edmonton for the party's convention have voted in favour of launching a new leadership race. Delegates voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent to proceed with a leadership election.
In no uncertain terms.
Only to allow him to stay on for two more long years.
Speaking to delegates shortly after the vote, Mulcair indicated he would stay on as leader until his replacement is chosen. Delegates voted to give the party two years to select a new leader.
So he can finish off the NDP, and no doubt all his enemies in the party.
And keep on making the same kind of mistakes that cost the NDP the election...
Because he just doesn't get it.
Trudeau is not worse than Harper, he represents generational change something the NDP badly needs. And anybody who doesn't get that is either living in denial or out of their minds.
In his speech begging the party to keep him, Mulcair didn't mention the word "left" once, or apologize for taking the party to the right of the Liberals.
And he completely ignored the NDP's youth wing, that had been begging him to take their party back.
In an era of massive popular movements energizing progressives across Europe and North America, it’s time for the NDP to boldly and unapologetically stake our ground as the party of the left.
So god help those poor young socialists...
Now don't get me wrong. I have no desire to see Tom Mulcair humiliated. But that painful exercise was not about Tom, or his future as a professional politician.
It was about getting the NDP to become as left-wing as possible, so it can help pressure all the other progressive parties to head in the same direction.
And we can form a mighty movement, fight the greedy grubbers of the one percent, destroy the Cons, save the planet, and start building a better world.
Mulcair should have bowed out gracefully, instead of clinging to power, and presiding over a party badly divided by his leadership.
It's a prescription for disaster and demoralization. And at a time of global upheaval, when the left is surging in Bernie Sanders' America and other places in the world, leaving the party in the hands of a man who doesn't like the words "left" or "socialist," is tantamount to sipping the Kool Aid in the Jonestown jungle.
I apologize if I sound harsh for it's never my intention to hurt any progressives. I hate doing that.
But we live in desperate times, sometimes the truth should hurt, and whether I'm right or wrong that's how I honestly feel.
An interim leader should have been appointed to start giving the NDP a new face.
And after twenty years in politics, Tom Mulcair should resign...
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9 comments:
Wait. What? I thought it meant he'd stay on until an interim leader was picked. He's there for two more years?! Oh, do carry on, NDP. Your strategizing is breathtaking.
"Trudeau is not worse than Harper, he represents generational change something the NDP badly needs. And anybody who doesn't get that is either living in denial or out of their minds."
Or someone who reads the newspapers.
Trudeau offers seniors $670-million a year. The rich $15-billion a year in corporate tax cuts. Sanders is running on a $1-trillion stimulus package or $100-billion Canadian equivalent. Trudeau is implementing a $10-billion package over 2 years, a fraction of Harper's $40-billion 2009 stimulus spending.
Trudeau is opposed to federal carbon pricing, daycare, pharmacare. Says TPP free trade and upper-middle-class tax cuts will "create jobs and grow the economy." How can anyone consider this progressive or even centrist?
You can fool some of the people all of the time. All of the people some of the time. And that time will run out by 2019 when it becomes painfully obvious Trudeau as an agent of real change is all fluff.
Mulcair was arguably the best opposition leader Canada ever had. His constant grilling of Harper during Question (when Harper decided to show up) using his skills honed as a lawyer was brilliant! Harper's non-answers just showed Harper to be the most secretive PM of the modern era.
"the best opposition leader Canada ever had?" Just how far back does your memory go, David? Sounds like not very far at all.
Now lets all of us sit down and listen/read Stephen Lewis's speech he gave at the convention.
well Mound, can you name any other better opposition leaders. Mine goes back about as far as yours. O.K. the Liberals, with Sheila Copps up against the Cons. Now that group did do a good job, while in opposition. How good were the Cons in opposition or the Liberals. Not so much. I'd have to say Layton and Mulcair were the best. the others were just the Cons and the Liberals. O.K. if you want to consider leaders of the NDP who were not official opposition, yes I can remember some very good leaders, like Stephen Lewis's father. If you go back to the CFF days, yes, they did a great job in parlimanet, but hey were not the official opposition.
R.I.P. NDP...it was nice knowing you.
NDP = now defunct party
Could we/they do ANYTHING more self-destructive than allow the guy who wrecked that party to stay in power and help wreck it some more?
That's like trusting a junkie with your drug stash!
hi Ron...why are you obsessed with Trudeau, this post is about Mulcair. And you should be more concerned that he didn't mention the word "left" once in his speech. Ron come on, don't be such an airhead. Get down from your cloud...
Mulcair needs to act like Rae did. He needs to use his experience to bring forth change and a new leader. If he cannot get outside of his own head, he will have two lost elections tagged to his name in the history books. I hope that he can get over himself and move on.
As a Liberal, I am so glad he lost. As I said before, Canada needs a strong NDP. Speech by Stephen Lewis was very inspirational.
TS
Lewis's speech was inspirational. It also gave the party a road map to the future. They demographics of this country are changing. The NDP needs to change with it and with a "road map" from Lewis, they just may move forward, because some day Trudeau is going to retire and we might want to be ready. We might also want to be in position, in the next election to once again become the official opposition.
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