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THE ONTARIO NDP HAS LEARNED? MAYBE.


By: BILL LEE

There may be hope indeed that the Ontario NDP has learned from the last election performance. In a piece in the Toronto Star, (http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/09/12/andrea_horwath_what_the_ndp_learned_from_the_recent_ontario_campaign.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) the leader of the now third party in Ontario, Andrea Howrath writes: "It has been a long summer of reflection for me and for our party." and "There are important lessons to learn from our recent campaign." and again, "...our core values of compassion and justice remain the bedrock of our party and remain my heart and soul." All good and appropriately humble from the leader who took the NDP from Official Opposition to third party status. One point in her piece bothered me however, early on she states: "Some of our most committed activists couldn’t hear the values of the party that we love expressed clearly enough." Doesn't this appear just a bit on the evasive side? Frankly, it comes across more like a subtle suggestion that those of who were concerned about her retreat to right wing populism just didn't understand how clever it all had been rather then seeing a capitulations to a mushy middle. Remember those $100.00 checks she was going to send out - more reminiscent of Mike Harris and Stephen Harper then Tommy Douglas, and all the "Gas Plant" blather which echoed the Conservative goof ball, Hudak? The issue for Andrea however was that some old Lefties just couldn't understand what campaign she and her inner circle cooked up was really about. I saw a good deal of that kind of talk in true believing NDP circles during the election and, unfortunately, continue to see it now. It was and is all pure humbug. Lots of folks, including the NDP member who knocked on our door, were dismayed and felt shut out from the inner circle. Nevertheless, the kind of approach she now voices in the article gives one some hope for optimism. In the article she avers that, "We believe in investing in our cities, and in public transit. We believe in protecting our environment. And we believe these things are practical goals that can be achieved." Maybe a bit on the vague side but these are early days for an NDP rethink and they will, hopefully, get more concrete. So while I personally remain agnostic about Horwath, it may be that Left progressive values will attain a pride of place in the party and we'll hear fewer messages from the faithful about "old fogies" not understanding the wisdom of the "New NDP".      In any event, my particular attention and energy is drawn at the moment to Toronto and to the good messages (and now that Rob Ford has withdrawn form the Mayor's race even better, more clear and progressive ones) we hear from Olivia Chow (particularly about transit which is a serious issue for working class people and one that was virtually ignored by the Horwathians during the election). As well, I am happy to see the increasingly progressive policy announcements from Tom Mulcair on the Federal level. Neither of these campaigns are terrifically progressive of course but in both cases they clearly separate themselves from the right wing "tax savings are the only issue" politicos of the right and centre. Indeed, if either or both of these campaigns are in any way successful (and admittedly that is not by any means a given) the Ontario NDP may take real notice and begin to reclaim some notion of a genuine progressive agenda.

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