A British Columbian politician, the late Premier Dave Barrett, once gave a capsule definition of parliamentary government with reference to his country’s titular ruler across the Pond: “When the Queen calls you, she gives you the whole bag.”
Not quite so. A social democratic movement has exerted outsized influence in the Great White North despite minority status in the House of Commons. It pioneered Medicare for all in North America and championed a social safety net far superior to that in the United States.
Alas, the New Democratic Party has fallen on hard times. Reacting to Trump bluster about Canada as “the 51st state,” voters last year turned to the center-left Liberal Party of Prime Minister Mark Carney. At the same time, blue-collar voters defected to the opposition Conservative Party, voice of the anti-vaxxers. The party hemorrhaged votes at the polls, winning just seven parliamentary seats in a 338-member body, six after a defection to the Liberals. Among the casualties was NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who lost his Commons seat.
The NDP has just selected a new leader in a contrast to U.S. politics. It opted for a bold social democratic and environmental agenda, advocating for cross-country limits on rents, taxing the rich, and building an energy economy rooted in renewables.
The new leader is broadcaster/filmmaker Avi Lewis, who comes with a pedigree. His father, Stephen Lewis, was premier of Ontario. His grandfather David Lewis was national leader of NDP in the 1970s. He is married to high profile social activist and author Naomi Klein.
Lewis captured the NDP convention in Winnipeg with a rousing acceptance-speech vow to lead an”anti/capitalist movement.” He went on to elaborate; “Of course, we can already hear howls from the establishment, ‘But how will you pay for all this?’ Well, let’s remind them. This country is awash in wealth. We can have nice things. It is time, far past time, to properly tax the corporations and the billionaires that have been riding a tidal wave of profits while the 99 percent have been struggling and suffering.”
The NDP holds provincial power in B.C. and Manitoba. Lewis will face blowback, particularly in his promise of a “Green New Deal.” Canada cannot, argued Lewis, go on increasing the burning of fossil fuels. Already, in oil-rich Alberta, provincial NDP leader Naheed Nenshi had issued a starchy statement denouncing his party’s new federal leader. “We believe in Alberta and we believe in Canadian energy and good jobs it creates,” Nenshi said. “We believe in more pipelines and reducing emissions.”
The NDP’s roots lie in prairie populism, where its first breakthrough came in Saskatchewan. It was led by a fiery, charismatic preacher man, T.C. “Tommy” Douglas. But in recent years, its key support base has been B.C. and specifically Vancouver Island.
The Trump threat has, however, roused the country. The NDP finds itself squeezed in national politics. Lewis will need to win a seat in parliament and find issues to reclaim support. Social democracy is needed in North America. It has captured hearts in New York and Seattle. Can it do the same in Canada?
This article also appears in Cascadia Advocate.
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