Have issues with Singh as leader? Here are the questions you have to answer:

I was a Caron supporter. I will hold my nose and reluctantly vote for a Singh lead NDP.

progressive17 wrote:

I saw Mr. Singh on CPAC last night. He spoke of pharmacare and harm reduction for drug users, but did not address economic inequality. Disappointing.

If it turns out that Singh was elected by signing up thousands in a geographically narrow area, perhaps the NDP should think about changing the OMOV system and moving to something like what the Conservatives use.

But he did on CBC Power & Politics. Asked what his number #1 issue will be as NDP Leader, he said starting a movement to put Income Inequality on the national stage.

Of course I'll vote NDP federally, unless something more progressive comes along. Alas the Greens are irrelevant, and as for the Bloc ... how can someone like Gilles Duceppe who spent years organising immigrant workers in hotels and hospitals fall into niqab-baiting (I say that as someone who detests the niqab and think it is founded on hatred and erasure of women, not piety, but comparing a niqabi woman to an oil spill is gross racism)...

(I'll let my feminist colleagues of Muslim origin take on the niqab. I'll take on the effing crucifix, and we can all stand against private and confessional schools).

But the question is, will I bother volunteering? This may be an issue for many activists.

My gosh he only became the leader officially on October 1st. That's barely two months ago and his leadership is already being judged. It seems some of you were looking for an instastar. Have you forgotten the years since Trudeau became Liberal leader. How his numbers soared on nothing but his name then dove when he did nothing for two years? Then soared again?

I think Nikki Ashton is great but right now she doesn't have the politically saavy to win over Canadians. I was supporting Guy Caron because I hoped that as an economist he would have credibility but I don't know if he would have been able to convince Canadians. Angus is old-school politics. Maybe one of them would have done better than Singh in the past 2 months but it is by no means a given.

Not surprised he’s struggled.  He’s mostly style not substance.  If people want that, they already have a party leader to vote for.

Josh, that is exactly how I feel about Singh. I do get the impression that he is brighter than Trudeau, but also a bit vacuous. Actually, despite my misgivings, I probably will volunteer for the campaign, because the direct campaign is for my MP, Alexandre Boulerice, whom I very much want in Parliament.  After all, I certainly didn't like Mulcair.

At least in my riding, pretty much the same people volunteer for the NDP, QS and Projet Montréal...

Andrew Scheer has STYLE????

I supported Caron, because I thought he was the most likely to present a credible yet seriously left set of policies. I also thought he would do better than any of the others in Quebec. I rated Singh last on policies, but the fact that he speaks French put him ahead of Angus for me. I was disappointed by Singh's victory, but I will support the party here in Hamilton Centre as I always do.

I don't think it would be a good idea to try to replace Singh before the next election. Also, I am terrible at political prognostication, so perhaps he will catch fire before the election, and do much better than I pessimistically expect.

Let's take a leaf out of the QS book and not get hung up on leadership. Let's hold the NDP's feet to the fire on economic inequality. There are literally hundreds of things we could do as a country and its administrative subdivisions about this.

On the "zero hours" precariat:
There are many of us who work, but cannot rely on a regular paycheck. Sometimes it is good, but much of the time it is bad. My Xmas plans were 40% ruined this year because of this. Here are some ideas:

- Expand the working income tax benefit (WITB) and or EI to take all workers who are expected to be available full time up to a minimum of the minimum wage on a paycheque to paycheque basis. Make employers who cannot or will not guarantee steady work pay premiums on their share of EI contributions (and perhaps even give them a discount if they have been good. I.E. use actuarial science to rate businesses and industries). Make it illegal for governments to raid the EI fund. 

- Atomize university and training courses into hour credits so a person who is temporarily off of work can learn a few things, do homework, practice, and take a micro-test for which there is an educational credit.

- Increase holiday pay to 8% as in France and many other places.

- Repeal laws against sympathy strikes against companies who screw workers.

- Return to rent controls with teeth.

- Dental, pharma, and optical care, as I admit the NDP have been talking about.

- Support for cultural workers. Not just sending SOCAN executives to LA on junkets and glitzy awards shows. Provincial laws that clubs have to pay the musicians' union scale (or if we allow sympathy strikes, no one is going to deliver the beer). A band needs more than just beer for the drummer. But tax and EI and CPP/QPP deducted at source. 

Although society would expect proof you are writing and painting and creating music (perhaps through schools), how about some kind of liveable stipend for doing so? This is a big part of our national heritage.

- Labour standards for couriers, many of whom get $250 a week for 60 hours.

Couillard says he wants to lift 100,000 people who can't work out of poverty in Quebec. What about those of us who can work? Income security for the economically unequal will float all boats. We will shovel the money into local, provincial, and national businesses (who will be taxed) making a virtous economic cycle.

From progressive17:

Let's hold the NDP's feet to the fire on economic inequality.

​I agree with pretty much all of your reccomendations, but labour law in this country is provincial jurisdiction, except for those workers who are under federal jurisdiction (which is a very small part of the labour force - and most of which are already covered by union agreement).

As far as Singh as leader goes, in the past I have said the problem with the NDP is not necessarily the leadership. So, I don't think Singh is a great leader, but even if the situation was right for removing and replacing him, that wouldn't solve the party's problems.

Bedrock support for the NDP was originally from farmers and unionized workers. Unfortunately for the NDP, both of those groups have been decimated. Fewer and fewer farmers on larger and larger farms, and manufacturing industries moving out of country, leaving their union workforce unemployed.

I honestly don't know how to solve that situation, and it's apparent to me the NDP doesn't either. The NDP lacks direction, and until they figure that out, they're not going to make any major breakthrough.

Quote:

Andrew Scheer has STYLE????

And in case you didn't see the video.

Toronto Sun columnist (and NDP Pundit) Tom Parkin has a beef with the Canadian Press about their story on the Scarborough by-election kick off (in the wrong riding). Jagmeet said it wasn't a kick-off but a "Jagmeet & Greet" where they introduced the candidate.

Parkin tweeting

Only took 37 hours and 25 minutes--Canadian Press has finally issued a correction, admitting it "erroneously" reported the NDP kicked-off a by-elxn campaign from the "wrong riding." The reporter never fact-checked the false and damaging story with NDP media officers.

https://twitter.com/Tom_Parkin_/status/941443998048235520

Damage done. No apology. The original story is still on web sites.

https://twitter.com/Tom_Parkin_/status/941447231751770112

they were presented with incontrovertible evidence their story was wrong yesterday morning. This is an ethical problem.

https://twitter.com/Tom_Parkin_/status/941455016866516994

Mr. Magoo wrote:

Quote:

Andrew Scheer has STYLE????

And in case you didn't see the video.

LOL.

There's a lot wrong with that video, but am I the only one who was completely distracted from whatever he was saying by waiting for the next "interruption?"

Anyway, back to Singh. I'm probably representative of the demographic the NDP wants to reach (in that I may or may not vote NDP in any given election, including the next one), and I've seen nothing I consider a problem from Singh that would make me reluctant to vote for him. 

What I'm seeing here is a lot of people complaining that Singh isn't pure progressivism distilled into human form. Some reasonable comparisons are being made to Mulcair, who was a liberal, but so far there is one important difference that is being overlooked (I think! - correct me if I'm wrong), and that's leadership style. The issue with Mulcair wasn't that he a liberal, the problem was that he was a liberal and an autocrat. I find it quite disheartening that so many NDP supporters are still stuck in the mindset that the leader needs to personally have all the answers. Singh's job is to sell the NDP and NDP's policies to the general population - it's not to set the policies. Mulcair didn't even try to do that. Mulcair tried to sell Mulcair and Mulcair's policies to the general population. The top job of a party leader is to sell the party - something Trudeau did well last election by making a lot of noise about all the talented recruits he had for the party.

So I guess what I'm saying is, Singh himself doesn't need "substance" (whatever that means) any more than Trudeau did. He just needs to a) sell the NDP, b) surround himself with competent people who have "substance" and are in line with the NDP's values, and c) sell those people. If he goes the Mulcair route and tries to run everything personally, that's a different story - but if he's done so, I haven't seen it yet. Otherwise, get over 2014/15's talking points and put things in perspective. Singh is the fairly elected leader and that should be a good enough indication that he's the best on offer at this time. Running against Trudeau and Scheer, there's no reason for the NDP to betray him unless he betrays the NDP.

Why couldn't they hold the meeting in the soon-to-be-contested riding less than a kilimeter away, especially if the new by-election candidate was in attendance???   I'm very well aware of the media bias, but you really have to question the NDP organizers' thinking here.

Yes and no. I’m sure several riding associations were in attendance and the location was probably just a convenient selection without much thought going into it. Now after seeing how quickly the media jumped into this to manipulate the facts to black ball Jagmeet and the NDP perfectly shows the uphill battle the NDP face! From here on in Jagmeet is going to have to look over his shoulder before he can even fart!

From WWWTT:

I’m sure several riding associations were in attendance and the location was probably just a convenient selection without much thought going into it.

​Well, I agree with that assessment.

But then, what do I know? Apparently the fundraising is going great! Email just in from Jagmeet:

_______,

I just got off the stage at an event in Toronto, and learned that we hit our $50,000 target in less than 72 hours!

This is incredible news, _______. That support is going to help us prepare for upcoming by-elections and give us the tools we need to win.

But we’re just getting started. We need organizers on the ground across the country in 2018, and we only have until December 31 to make sure we have the resources to do it.

Chip in $250 right now and join the thousands of other New Democrats who have helped get us ready for 2018 – and if you do it before December 31 at midnight, you’ll get up to $___* back in tax credits.

If we’re going to form the first NDP government in the history of Canada in 2019, it means our 2018 has to be pretty special – and with your support, _______, it will be.

This is the best time to give, ______. Get $___* back at tax time when you donate $250 before December 31.

With love and courage,

Jagmeet Singh
Leader
Canada’s NDP

Pondering wrote:

Singh's turban is a problem.

What are you trying to say here? I hope it's not to pander to racist sentiment and suggest that Singh should not have been selected on that basis. In this part of the country, having dark skin is also a potential liability to running for public office, but we have to be true to our values and be honest about who we are. Running away does nothing to dispel bigotry.

lagatta4 wrote:

I was an Ashton supporter. Singh just doesn't come across as genuinely committed to social justice and to the left.

And no, this has nothing to some kind of Québec aversion to religious garments.

This goes for me as well. IMO Singh's victory signalled the irrevocable Liberalization of the NDP, or at least the point at which I can't fool myself any longer about the party's bearing. So essentially for the first time ever I consider myself partyless. There's saddness in letting go, but it's also liberating.

I wish Singh success, but it will be as irrelevent to me as Trudeau's.

Labour, the poor and the Left need a party. The NDP isn't it anymore, and I've finally given up hope that it ever could be again.

Mighty Middle wrote:

The NDP had a lack of funds for airfare to send Jagmeet to visit the 3 ridings. Scarborough was local.

Singh could have hit up a few of his campaign donors for the money. Even better, he could have hosted a fundraiser in Surrey.

We can reassess after the next election.

Agreed! Now's not the time for second guessing. Now's the time to strategize and analyze the best way moving forward.

Ken Burch wrote:

Mighty Middle wrote:

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Even PC Premier Brian Pallister showed up for a by-election campagin in a poor urban Winnipeg riding where a good showing for his party is to exceed 20% of the vote. If he can show up to bolster the morale with his troops, what's Jagmeet's excuse?

The NDP had a lack of funds for airfare to send Jagmeet to visit the 3 ridings. Scarborough was local.

Pretty sure he gets paid enough to buy plane tickets out of his own salary if necessary, and somebody could put him up at their house overnight if it came to that.  And the only place he have had to fly to was B.C.-if it came to that, you can DRIVE to the Maritimes probably or take Via Rail.  It would look very "common touch".

Visiting a riding is not as simple as just buying a plane ticket, there are other costs as well. I think the Party assessed whether it was worth the funds to spend on a campaign they knew they were going to lose and opted to not spend anything as money seems to be really tight.

Sitting NDP MPs are being docked expense money from Board of Internal Economy for the Satallite Offices. Every dollar the Board of Internal Economy docks from an NDP MP, they in turn submit a claim for reimbursement from the Party.

https://www.hilltimes.com/2017/11/06/ndps-court-challenge-boie-decision-...

Plus there are legal fees the NDP is paying to fight this in court. On top of that they are about 5.5 Million in debt and now paying Jagmeet a salary.

So they need to be careful with their money, and sending Jagmeet off to tour in ridings they knew they were going to lose, didn't seem cost effective to the NDP.

Mr. Magoo wrote:

Quote:

It would look very "common touch".

It would look very "The NDP is broke".

Optics is everything and when you send the leader out to campaign there are certain "trappings" that must be associated with a leader (the right car to drive up to the event for instance). That is why I said it is not as simple as buying a plane ticket. There are other costs as well.