Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week.- Miguel Xavier discusses the need for social democrats to stop limiting their goals to preserving the status quo, and instead make the case for…
Grassroots
Meet the “United” Conservative Party
Say what you will about the Wildrose, they were always grassroots party…that is until Jason Kenney blew them out of the water. Last week Jason Kenney and Brian Jean unveiled…
New column day
Last week, I wrote that the NDP should be careful about assuming that changes in leadership would necessarily help in a needed process of party renewal.Obviously, both elected to seek…
On evaluations
I've written previously about my view as to how NDP members should approach the review of Thomas Mulcair's leadership at the upcoming federal convention. And in the face of a…
New column day
Here, with my take on the factors NDP members should take into account in evaluating Tom Mulcair's leadership.For further reading...- I've written numerous previous posts on the future of Mulcair…
On organization
Given some of the odd twists and turns in Paul Wells' latest piece on Tom Mulcair's future, I'm hesitant to give too much credence to his unnamed sources. But to…
On open questions
I’ve previously criticized the attempts of outside commentators to push Thomas Mulcair out the door as NDP leader. By the same token, though, I’ll note that it’s equally inappropriate to…
On statements of values
It’s true that a party’s policy book is not the same as its election platform. But it’s also true that there is more to a party than a single campaign…
Podcast: A labor journalism resurgence?
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Podcast150803-Labour-reporting.mp3 As unions and workers suffered defeats over the past few decades, so has labor journalism dwindled from a mainstay of major media outlets across Canada and the US to…
Trampled
Elizabeth May tells us that her idea of a grassroots movement is a finely manicured lawn carefully maintained to suit the aesthetic preferences of its owners: May said she didn’t…
Political Eh-conomy Radio: CLC Convention 2014
This week’s convention of the Canadian Labour Congress was more eventful than it has been in some time. There was a change of leadership and an energy palpable even from…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Andrew Coyne sees the powerful impact of local forces on nomination contests as evidence that grassroots democracy is still alive and well in…
#Urbanarium2014: How to build a truly “Engaged City”?
“Engaged City” was unanimously passed yesterday, and it seems like the pundits are all out criticizing the process. … Democratization of the planning process is a fundamental problem with bureaucratic…
On lasting influence
Murray Dobbin continues his quest to push for more big ideas from the federal NDP here. But it’s worth dividing his take into one theory well worth applying, and one…
New column day
Here, on how Michael Chong’s Reform Act privileges members of Parliament over party members and supporters – and how there’s far more reason for concern about a lack of genuine…
#mtlqc13 – Day 2 Review
Aaron Wherry has been documenting the resolutions passed at the NDP’s convention in Montreal – and so I haven’t seen much need to comment on them in detail. But the…
#mtlqc13 – Day 1 Review
Based on my posts leading up to the NDP’s federal convention, it shouldn’t come as much surprise that my main focus is on the substantive policy debates. And the first…
#mtlqc13 – Preamble Ramble
Over the past few days, I’ve highlighted a few policy resolutions I’d like to see promoted and discussed at the NDP’s federal convention this weekend in Montreal. But I’ll take…
#mtlqc13 Priority Resolution – Human Rights
The final panel on policy resolutions at the NDP’s Montreal convention will deal with human rights issues. And the Young New Democrats of Quebec have proposed a resolution which covers…
#mtlqc13 Priority Resolution – Governance
One of the most obvious sources of cynicism in politics – which the NDP should be seeking to combat at every turn – is the presence of issues where opposition…