The battle for the left

Editorial

Canada is a centre-left country, even while it is governed by a majority Conservative government. This is a maxim mirroring the common American assertion that even under a Clinton or an Obama, the United States remains a centre-right country.

There are characteristics – like them or hate them – that place each of our countries seemingly permanently on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Canadians, as a society, accept more government intervention in the economy, some limitations on completely free expression and higher taxes in exchange for (ostensibly) more government services. This is not to say we don’t gripe, nor that there are many among us who would prefer a more American-style approach, but when the newly majoritized Conservative prime minister reiterates his determination to leave unchallenged several would-be lightning rods – capital punishment, abortion, equal marriage – one does have to ask what defines “conservative” in this country. As the Conservative government now has about four years to answer that question, there will no doubt be a discussion on that subject, especially among the right-wing elements of that party, who may feel unloved.

More interesting perhaps will be the inevitable tussle between the New Democrats and the Liberals. This seems like a rerun of the scrap between the Progressive Conservatives and the Reform-Canadian Alliance after 1993. Divided, they fell repeatedly.

It is interesting that it was Bob Rae who, on election night, raised the idea of a merger between the two opposition parties. Rae, a leading figure in the Liberal caucus – if not the leading figure in what remains of his party – is a former NDP premier of Ontario. That he should be a hand across the aisle to the New Democrats would make sense, were it not for the legitimate reasons for which he discarded his old party, which include the NDP’s enthusiastic abandonment of its foundational Zionist principles.

The NDP’s foreign policy problem is epitomized by its sheltering of the country’s worst anti-Israel extremists, but it does not end there. While the National Post’s Kevin Libin proposed in Monday’s paper that NDP leader Jack Layton was tacking rightward in foreign policy, the NDP remains alone among Western social democrats in what is essentially an isolationist position redolent of the 1930s left. Just as its economic policy attempts to ignore the inevitability of foreign competition and globalization, rather than accepting it and seeking for workers of the world what it demands for Canadian workers, the NDP calls for a precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan and takes a largely hands-off position on military issues. It is true that Layton endorsed Canadian participation in Libya, but what will be most intriguing is what his huge new caucus and the radical grassroots of his party will say in the months and years to come – Layton may be a victim of his own success if his caucus is found to hold positions far more radical than those he is showcasing.

This may be Layton’s biggest challenge: balancing the massively increased expectations of Canadians with the massively increased expectations of his grassroots and backbenches. If it appears that Layton or his successor is attempting to turn the NDP into the new Liberal party, there will be a further split among the left.

But perhaps this is exactly what must happen. To his credit, Preston Manning recognized that his Reform party could not be taken seriously with individuals like Doug Collins and so he effectively held a purge of the most extreme figures who had been drawn to his emerging party. If Layton can moderate his message and, with one stone, also alienate his most extreme adherents, he won’t need to merge with the Liberal party – he will be leading it in all but name.

What is far more likely is that Canadians will see that the smiling front of the NDP is really a moderate dog being wagged by a radical grassroots tail. We saw in 2004 the laughable letter signed by far-left NDPers accusing Layton of a “lurch toward Israel.” Google “Layton” and “Zionist” to see the dark paths down which this discussion is now headed.

So, while the NDP appears to have the upper hand in any merger or partnership negotiation with the humiliated Liberal party, it will be worth waiting a few months to see what happens. If the new NDP caucus proves to be a huge embarrassment, or if the NDP is found to be far more extreme than Canadians thought, there is every possibility that voters will look at the new Official Opposition and abandon it as quickly as they joined it.

^TOP