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The NDP's new role: the tories' lackey

Right now, the NDP looks to Canada like the little kid who is the schoolyard bully's wannabe, making taunts while standing behind the bully. The bully, of course, is the Conservative government. The bully's bag-man is, as always, terrified of the bully, and must cower behind the bully to taunt the victim, who is usually the geeky, academic student who will go on to do great things, while the bully and his wannabe are destined for high paying jobs as full serve gas station attendants.

This week's by-election results show one thing more clearly than anything else. The Green party is the new home of Canada's protest vote, and they are well on their way to replacing the NDP in the back corners of the House of Commons. The NDP's support is down under the disingenuous unprincipled partisanship of Jack Layton. The party ostensibly of the left has thrown out everything it stands for in pursuit of power, targeting its philosophical allies to aid its philosophical enemies for political gain at the expense of principle, or perhaps simply to hide its inability to reconcile the labour and environmentalist wings of its party.

From Layton's perspective, the NDP must hurt the Liberals to get ahead. He must get the tories a majority. He must polarise national debate into left and right, cut out the centre, and set himself up for power in reaction to a radical tory majority agenda. But his efforts are failing. Canadians are smarter than Jack Layton.

What Canadians see is a petty party, more intent on partisan jabs at the official opposition than in performing its own role as a tertiary opposition party. The people see the Green party as a true protest vote - one that protests the status quo and invites genuine new policy direction to realign our country, rather than whiny political hackery with an obvious goal of power, not principle. It was the NDP that brought down the Liberal government and gave us a Conservative one. It was the NDP that released the RCMP letter announcing an investigation into a Liberal cabinet minister during the election campaign. It was the NDP that attacked the Dion-May strategic electoral coalition the most visciously, when it would be the principles they espouse that would be of the most benefit.

It is time for Jack Layton and the NDP to step out from behind the Tory bully. It is time for the NDP to show itself as a party of principle. Otherwise, its time has come and gone.

Posted at 08:56 on March 19, 2008

This entry has been archived. Comments can no longer be posted.

Abolish the Ontario Municipal Board | politics | Evidence mounts in favour of Silvercreek Junction Park-and-Ride in Guelph

Dr.Dawg (drdawgsblawg.blogspot.com) writes at Wed Mar 19 11:09:18 EDT 2008...

The hypocrisy here is breathtaking. Why not turn your indignation towards the Liberals, those sit-on-their-hands do-nothings whose silent support of the Harper government has been egregious over the past few months.

Some opposition party you've got there: abstain, abstain, abstain. That's not opposition. That's complicity. To follow your analogy, the Libs are like the guy watching the kid getting bullied, who stands there shuffling nervously and doing nothing.

Better attend to the beam in your own eye, Bud.

leftdog (www.buckdogpolitics.blogspot.com/) writes at Wed Mar 19 11:10:17 EDT 2008...

Ahhh excuse me! While Liberals spent the better part of a year, attacking each other over their leadership race, the Blogging Dippers were the main force in the blogosphere challenging and fighting Harper and his ilk daily!

I don't think Liberals have yet earned the right to give a title to a post like yours! If you really want to talk about 'lackeys' let's NOT forget it is the Liberals who have been voting WITH the Conservatives in the House or who send in only 7 MP's to make it look like there is an official opposition.

Sheeeesh!

Sean S. (www.seaninsaskatchewan.blogspot.com) writes at Wed Mar 19 11:18:04 EDT 2008...

yet another Liberal blogger blaming the NDP for their party's inability to stay in power. Newsflash, it was the Liberals who caused their own government's defeat because they couldn't make their minority government work. Additionally, Paul Martin promised to trigger an election early in 2006 regardless. It was the Liberals who ran a disastrous campaign in 2005/2006. It was the Canadian voting public that gave us a Conservative minority, and remember, the voter is always right.

As for picking on the Liberals, yep the NDP has, as well as the Conservatives. Believe it or not out West there are many ridings where it is NDP/Con fights and as such the NDP goes after both the Libs and the Cons.

Now if you want to base the entire country off of 4 by-elections in ridings where the NDP achieved less than 25% of the vote in 2006 be my guest, but at least ground yourself in reality. The NDP does not want a Conservative government, the NDP does not want a Liberal government either.

Your efforts would be better served demanding better of your own party instead of taking petty partisan shots at the NDP.

Cliff (rustyidols.blogspot.com/) writes at Wed Mar 19 12:05:26 EDT 2008...

In this rather laboured metaphor, are the Liberals the weedy little victim of the bullies? Or the deposed former king bully after a new thug arrives in the school with the NDP the thoughtful kid wishing a pox on both their houses and trying to look after the other kids the bullies absently victimize when they aren't engaging in their own petty power struggles?

Kai Wolf writes at Wed Mar 19 12:32:28 EDT 2008...

The Liberals and Paul Martin received NDP support for massive budget concessions so their government could live another day. So please, spare us the rhetoric.

While I'm an ardent Tory supporter, I can at least understand that in that particular instance and this time with the Tories, the NDP is doing whatever it can to advance its agenda. There is nothing wrong with that. I can respect that, even if I can't agree with their philosophy.

The agenda of the Liberals, on the other hand, is to gain and/or retain power by whatever means it deems necessary. It has compromised its core principles over and over again in order to wait for a day that their chances to WIN an election are more in their favour. It isn't realistic for the NDP to expect to form the Government the next time out, and there is a good chance that it might not even be the Opposition, but that doesn't stop them from doing their job, which the Liberals have been sorely neglecting. Right now, the NDP deserves the job of Official Opposition much more than the Liberals.

ALW (aaronleewudrick.blogspot.com) writes at Wed Mar 19 15:28:35 EDT 2008...

The NDP are the Tories' lackey?

Which party again is the one letting every single piece of Tory legislation pass, unopposed? The NDP votes against them every time.

You know the Grits are in trouble when they best they can do it point to how badly the NDP is doing.

blogging a dead horse (blogginghorse.blogspot,com) writes at Wed Mar 19 17:40:56 EDT 2008...

This is absolutely preposterous.

Has the Liberal spin machine become so baselessly over-confident that it can accuse the NDP of helping Harper at the exact same time that Liberal MPs sit on their hands and help the right wing Conservatives get their way on extending the war, gut the public purse and worsen our environment?

Liberal supporters who are tired of Dion's weak leadership deserve better. And that's precisely what Jack Layton is offering.

David Graham (cdlu.net) writes at Thu Mar 20 10:16:51 EDT 2008...

If you want to convince me and the other non-tordippers that the NDP is not about partisanship, then explain the various statements in the various articles I've posted making such statements as the NDP was not trying to win those ridings anyway, and they would not want to pursue CadScam because godforbid it might benefit the Liberals. Not that anyone actually read the links before making comments...

Dr.Dawg (drdawgsblawg.blogspot.com) writes at Thu Mar 20 10:52:01 EDT 2008...

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we have consensus.

Cal writes at Thu Mar 20 15:50:00 EDT 2008...

Dr. Dawg,

You have a consensus? How is having a number of your cohorts agree with you be a meaningful consensus? Why don't you answer David's last post?

Dr.Dawg (Dr.Dawg@gmail.com) writes at Fri Mar 21 10:46:20 EDT 2008...

What's to answer? Of course the NDP is partisan--it's a political party. That wasn't the original accusation, David, and you darn well know it. Leave those goalposts alone. This attempted diversion of yours is, in any case, ludicrous.

Being anti-Lib doesn't mean being pro-Con except in a binary universe. The NDP caucus actually appears and votes in the House of Commons, things the Libs appear to have forgotten how to do, and they invariably vote against the Cons.

Cadscam? Nothing in it, I suspect, although I wish t'were otherwise.

Rick Salutin has a good piece in the Globe today about the Libs' on-going fecklessness. Give it a read, and weep.

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