聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 On April 11, Saskatchewan鈥檚 NDP Leader Cam Broten stepped down as head of the party. This came a day after federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair was unceremoniously punted as leader of their party.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 These events come a few weeks before Manitoba NDP Premier Greg Selinger is about to get the heave-ho, first as premier, then as party leader, in the wake of their upcoming provincial election.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As the National Post noted, it鈥檚 a tough time to be an NDP leader in this country.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Even Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who is currently the most successful leader they have, got sandbagged by the federal party by its choice to take the next two years discussing the Leap Manifesto at the grassroots level. Thankfully, she has said "These ideas will never form any part of our policy,鈥� and added, "They are naive, they are ill-informed, and they are tone-deaf."
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When it comes to Broten, he didn鈥檛 seem to get very far, at all. If he couldn't make any progress against an administration seeking its third term, he never will. He may have been going against the most popular premier in the country, if not the most popular politician, but surely somewhere in the Saskatchewan Party record he could have found some things to more vigorously oppose. They don鈥檛 call it the 鈥淥fficial Opposition鈥� for nothing.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In many ways, Broten was an empty shirt. He was there, but not. He just didn鈥檛 gain any traction. And if you can鈥檛 win your own seat as leader, you shouldn鈥檛 be premier.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I keep tabs with some NDP-types, and some of the support behind this Leap Manifesto is just nuts. The manifesto is nuts. They want Canada to get away from using fossil fuels entirely by 2050, and have all electrical generation come from renewable resources in 20 years.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 lovely that Tesla just announced its 鈥渁ffordable鈥� electric vehicle, starting around US$35,000. But I would like to see how a Tesla 3 stands up to a Canadian winter, with the heater cranked up to ward off -42 C temperatures. Show me the electric-powered semi that can pull a tanker full of milk, or a 45-ton excavator on a trailer that includes both a jeep and a booster. Where do I buy a battery-powered tractor to pull my 90-foot air drill? When will Boeing start building 300-passenger airliners running on batteries?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 (Maybe if Bombardier announces an electric airliner, they can get more money out of Ottawa?)
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And what will charge all these batteries? Not coal. Alberta鈥檚 shutting down their coal plants. Not nuclear. Most NDPers would drop dead before approving a nuclear plant. So what? Wind and solar? What happens when the wind doesn鈥檛 blow and the sun doesn鈥檛 shine? How do you use solar in the north in the winter, when the sun doesn鈥檛 rise at all?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The NDPs shifted from social issues to, it seems, almost exclusively environmental issues. When their environmental issues become so out to lunch, they will be unelectable.
Some might say they were always unelectable, but Notley鈥檚 triumph in Alberta proves that is not the case. If they can win there, they can win anywhere.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Perhaps that鈥檚 why Mulcair was shown the door. He had been in the lead during the early parts of the election campaign. If Notley could win, why couldn鈥檛 he hold onto that lead and win himself? Surely that idea must have crossed the minds of many party faithful.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In finding new leaders, the NDP will also have to find itself. Is it going to be the Green Party in all but name? Or will it worry about the workers, the hundreds of thousands of which are now unemployed in the oilpatch?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The people would like to know.
