Tiny socialist caucus raises ruckus at NDP convention
Party forces protesting delegates to put away anti-drone banner
By Laura Payton, CBC News
What a bunch of middle of the road drones the NDP has become…now there is a muzzling of dissent?
I have always voted NDP – not because I agreed with them on everything – since they are way too timid on many issues that need a strong voice and a strong response – but because they were closest to my personal philosophy of social justice..as the years went by, and the Party skewers further and further to the centre, I am made uncomfortable, but again, the devil you know…
And now this..I hate the fact that as my Party of choice gets closer to power on a Federal level, instead of maintaining the core principles of socialism, we find our leaders turning into centrist control freaks, sending the ‘security people’ to try and control the message, and media perception, at this convention, and that is truly a shameful act. To climb into bed with the Obama faction is to spit in the face of US progressives (and I used to be one, decades ago) who also bemoan the fact that Obama’s second term is proving as impotent and backsliding as any right-wing redneck could wish….the US Dems should be hiring NDP speakers for their conventions, not the other way around..a young Dave Barrett comes to mind….
I have lately refused to be a ‘member’ of the Party I vote for out of respect for the principles that were in play when this Party was created, and I believed that the election of Mulcair, an ex-Liberal (a kind of reverse-mirror image of Bob Rae) was a portent of not the best things to come…and so conventions are being controlled like Conjob photo-ops, with softball lobs, pre-chosen over anything resembling debate…sounds way too much like a union convention, which often held the reek of fascism, when every nomination and discussion point was treated like a personal attack on the soon-to-be-annointed , yet again…
The NDP better look over their shoulder, because while they capitulate to the middle, the Green Party is making inroads on territory traditionally belonging to them..I live in a bastion of NDP support, Vancouver Island, where we might sweep the entire area Provincially, but never have I seen so much Green support until now.
Remember when they used to laugh at the NDP, and assume it would never be a force to be reckoned with Federally? I do, and as power slowly but surely came to this Party, they slowly but surely have become older, more staid, less willing to take a political risk to remain on the social justice side of history…the Greens are quickly shedding their Conservative roots, Elizabeth May is an extremely savvy politician who gets it….have to wonder what has happened Federally, that dissent is treated like what the HarperCons call a “terrorist threat” instead the Party encouraging the healthy and vigorous debate it should engender.
Perhaps the Federal NDP could learn a lesson from the new Pope, and form it’s own “Reform” delegation to get back to Party roots and rejuvenate this tired old style of politics….
Left Over 
I’ve never supported the federal NDP but I got a chance to spend some time with David Lewis in the mid-70’s and, from that, came to respect the party and its principles. I always took comfort in knowing that the NDP anchored the Left in parliament and provided an invaluable service to Canadians of all political stripes by serving as the conscience of parliament. The Libs became Conservative Lite, the NDP became Latter Day Liberals, the very thing they for so long reviled. And Harper wins for, after all, even long before he became prime minister he openly stated his foremost objective was to shift Canada’s political centre permanently to the Right. It’s sad they had to throw in the towel.