NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slaps hands with members of his caucus after being introduced on stage before moderating the showcase question and answer session with the NDP caucus during the NDP Convention in Hamilton, Ont. on Oct. 13.Peter Power/The Canadian Press
Some basic political math is fuelling a certain giddiness at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Hamilton this weekend.
It goes like this, New Democrats figure: Canadians are done with the Liberals, and the Liberals appear to be done with new ideas or any ability to react to the reality surrounding them. That means that either Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is toast, or he will take the hint and go, leaving a new leader with too little runway to avoid getting walloped.
When Liberals do badly, New Democrats do well, so this is a happy state of affairs. But there’s still Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and their laser focus on affordability to contend with.
So the NDP is gathered buoyant with the idea that there is a big opportunity if they can show themselves as a competent and effective alternative to a tired and tiresome governing party. And they aim to take Mr. Poilievre out at the knees for what they see as his hollow attention to the concerns of ordinary people.
The lineup for the party’s policy convention is a showcase of New Democrats who are getting big things done or getting the better of conservatives, or both. The message is that the NDP is on the rise and responding to the moment better than their rivals.
Among the speakers are Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, and Marit Stiles, the Ontario NDP leader hailed as a conquering hero after Premier Doug Ford backed down on the Greenbelt. Manitoba Premier-designate Wab Kinew isn’t in attendance because he’s occupied with transition tasks, but he was well represented in bragging rights.
New Democrats split on their deal with Liberals, seek harder line from Jagmeet Singh
Friday featured a keynote speech by B.C. Premier David Eby. He laid out in beatific terms what it was like to form a progressive government after “16 years of the most mean-spirited austerity you could ever imagine” under the Liberal governments of Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. The NDP – under John Horgan, until Mr. Eby took over a year ago – raised the minimum wage, built up public-sector services and brought in paid sick leave, he said.
“Now it’s not been all sunshine and roses,” he conceded. ”There was one negative, challenging thing about being an NDP premier: When all the premiers get together at the Council of Federation, it’s been a bit lonely.”
Mr. Eby snickered in delight as he delivered his punchline: “But not any longer.” The crowd ate it up, rewarding him with raucous applause as he thanked the Manitoba delegation “for sending me a friend” in Mr. Kinew.
The crescendo of Mr. Eby’s speech matched the subtext of the convention, both rebutting the perennial criticism that giving the NDP the keys is a very kind and cozy way to go broke.
“They will say our vision is impossible. They will say we can’t afford it,” Mr. Eby said. “But don’t let them tell you it can’t be done, because we’re doing it.”
How satisfied delegates are with the supply and confidence agreement that keeps the minority Liberal government standing until 2025 in exchange for NDP demands like dental care (partially implemented) and pharmacare (the next likely carrot-shaped stick) will become clear later in the weekend, when related policy proposals hit the floor.
George Soule is a former NDP strategist and director of communications to Leader Jagmeet Singh, attending his first convention as a civilian. To him, the deal has been a win because its payoff is immediate – you’ll wait years to live in an apartment someone starts building tomorrow, but the kids of low-income families can go to the dentist for free today – and because it demonstrates the NDP is ready for power and wields it in ways that make a difference.
As Mr. Soule sees it, the agreement is an audition for governing, and the NDP has aced it.
“It has given us more power than the party’s ever had,” he said.
Anne McGrath, the NDP national director, believes the deal has allowed the party’s 25 MPs to cast a bigger shadow in the House of Commons.
“Jagmeet and the caucus have basically taken our role, which is quite small, and moved into some of the most significant gains that have ever been made,” she said. “The big thing right now is whether or not people will see that.”
What’s coming is a change election where people act on their fatigue with the government, Ms. McGrath said, and the Liberals can’t seem to rally.
“They’re gasping for air, they’re completely out of gas. They have no ideas,” she said. “And they seem complacent or like they seem to not recognize the moment that we’re in.”
Eventually, Ms. McGrath circled around to an idea that two other people also independently brought up in hallway conversations at the Hamilton Convention Centre: Tommy Douglas, the figure who looms largest in the stained-glass window of NDP patron saints, was a premier of Saskatchewan who never got near the Prime Minister’s Office. And yet he crafted the medicare system on which Canada’s self-image is based.
There are two ways to read that thought occurring to New Democrats right now. Maybe it means a policy win that makes things better for people in ways you believe in is its own legacy – whether or not you get credit.
Or maybe, getting credit for building something good sometimes happens in slow motion, but it happens all the same.