While stretching before a run Saturday morning I actually tuned into this, yes the NDP federal convention. More to practice my French listening (politicians typically speak clear and easily when trying to win over voters, or in this case a party wide crisis and leadership uncertainty). But then again, I do have this affinity for Canadian politics, CFL, Trailer Park Boys and all things maple. Yes, guilty. I'm a proud Canadian and this one isn't saying sorry. Regardless, I was curious what would be presented, and shocked to discover it was actually held in Edmonton, AB of all places!
Having listened to one partifular long serving member and read the following transcript, it appears it is time to pack up the NDP party or at the very least a necessary reinvention. The organization is nothing more than a complaining, finger pointing, fund wasting farce that consumes too much time in the House of Commons and provides little benefit to Canadians and tax paying residents living in Canada. Effectively, Canada is a two party system and the "political system" along with the media have been generous enough to the likes of the NDP.
If the NDP actually wanted to help the working class guy it would cease spreading misinformation about compensation from options and suppress a culture of "do no more than working 40 hours a week with scheduled breaks", do not work more efficiently than the guy next to you or Heaven forbid even suggest a simple yet innovative idea to those "rich" management members or CEOs. With the latest Liberal landslide victory, one of the latest buzz terms is "innovation", and for Canada that's a good thing to strive toward. However, the Liberals have yet to define what that means or how it is measured. No matter what it is, the NDP are killing all potential innovation with their vision of what Canada should be.
In a world where anyone can start an online business or blog and if successful even monetize this into a livelihood, where much larger companies are willing to pay aggressive multiples and premia for unique blogs, online businesses, YouTube channels, etc. Mulcair would rather have all Canadians "working for the man"....and tolerating it. In Mulcair's world there would be no Canadian bank leaders, nor the next innovative employer like BlackBerry, nor the next Thompson, Bronfman, Eaton, Irving or Molson family.
My father and mother, both retired, worked hard ALL of their working years, and thanks in part to a union provided a livelihood to our family (for which I can never be grateful enough to both). Yes there are elements of the kind of working environments, wage standards, working conditions that are important and good thanks to unions and labour focused groups like the NDP. But it is 2016 now. To call out a bank CEO for working 100 hour work weeks and travelling most of his career, away from family, etc. as a crime or even as a strong case of an individual "beating the system" is well offside.
In fairness to the NDP it is positive to see the roots of bilingualism from two Montréal Anglos entrenched in to the party leadership (unlike my riding where in fact it has been a stronghold NDP riding with the torch recently passed from "The Libby" to Jenny Kwan, neither of which have demonstrsted any French skills or openness despite several emails to the MP's office, nor provide any in their updates that include up to four languages that are not part of official languages of Canada). Although at the next English and French federal debates the next NDP leader is likely to be mopped up off the floor as I do not know of any upcoming candidates that have the necessary bilingual fluency. Especially since the party's stronghold and recent gains have been made in Quebec.
With the resigning of Stephen Harper and Mulcair now ousted, the opposition in total will now be leaderless for another year or two. And thanks to Canadians' complacency when they vote, opposition parties may find it difficult to launch any serious push no matter how many mountains will be moved or how obvious it is that any party would be better at Finance 101 than "the Justin" and Morneau. Regardless, the Liberals are salivating. As such, we may be in a for a long Liberal Deficit Decade and an ailing Loonie.
As it appeared from the National Post Wire Services, Sunday, Apr. 10, 2016...(towards the end it starts to sound like a bilingual Iron Maiden's "The Trooper")
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/the-full-text-of-tom-mulcairs-speech-at-the-ndp-convention&pubdate=2016-04-10
"Bonjour tout le monde — good morning fellow New Democrats.
It’s always great to be back here in Edmonton, where Rachel Notley’s NDP government is building a stronger, fairer Alberta.
Laissez-moi commencer en disant à quel point je suis fier de notre parti.
...no foreign, economic, military policies......just environment, environment, environment, social programs, social programs, Marcia, Marcia, Marcia (see "Brady Bunch" zip born after 1980)
J’ai été impressionné et profondément inspiré ce matin par la qualité des échanges que nous avons eus sur la protection de l’environnement.
And it goes on....
(I have deleted previously posted text of his speech and replaced with the link above, too much real estate given up, but the low lights are below...)
...then more lies about tax avoidance due to our capital gains tax approved by Canada Revenue Agency that is open and available to all Canadians, residents and those working/investing here....
CEOs in Canada make, 200 times the wage of the average worker. And those same CEOs can use their stock options to avoid paying fair taxes,
while over a million Canadian kids go to school hungry. That’s not right.
....then more whining (with more lies) like a spoiled kid in the school yard....
According to a report from the Broadbent Institute, 9 million votes cast during the last electon effectively didn’t count — because of Canada’s antiquated first-past-the-post system.
Of course, Conservatives believe the unfair status quo is just fine. Liberals, on the other hand, promised change, but they are already starting to backtrack on that as well.
...and this is where it starts to sound like a bilingual Iron Maiden's "The Trooper"...
We can’t let them down. We can’t get distracted. We have to push forward.
If you keep standing with me, then together, we will never stop fighting.
So – stand with me … On va se tenir debout ensemble.
Stand if you want to fight to grow our party and strengthen our movement. Debout contre l’inégalité.
Stand if you want to unite progressives in Quebec with those in the rest of the country … Debout pour la paix.
Stand if you want to fight to build a country that generations of New Democrats, young and old, have dreamed of and organized for …
A Canada that is loving, hopeful and optimistic.
