NDP Dissident goes Independent -
It can’t be a headscratcher that the federal New Democratic Party, the only socialist-oriented political party in the country, has not managed to come anywhere close to holding power in hyper-capitalist Canada since the party’s inception.
The closest New Democrats came was in the 2011 election when Jack Layton led the party with 37 seats going in to Official Opposition status with 102 NDP MPs elected.
The NDP’s critical perspective on capitalism and imperialism has roots in its founding values statements developed prior to its first national convention in 1961 and was published as The New Party Draft Program. Though eroded since, here are some excerpts from the party’s initial guiding principles:
The old concept that wealth is might and might is right is outdated. Distorting true human values, it fosters dangerous extremes of opulence and misery both at home and abroad.
Offering Canadians the opportunity to rebuild their society along new lines, the New Party will plan carefully and intelligently, the best use of our human and material resources for the public good. It will advance the rights and dignity of every citizen; to each it will ensure a fair share of the nation’s wealth and an equal opportunity to develop his talents to the full.
In this rapidly changing world, greater achievements, at home can be countenanced in good conscience only when matched by an urgent concern for needy peoples abroad. The peace of the world depends on a recognition of this duty; the preservation and advancement of our democratic institutions rest upon it. The New Party presents international policies which will play a decisive part in the promotion of a true and lasting peace.
The New Party believes that we should seek a reappraisal and change of NATO’s policies and objectives. To relieve tensions, Canada should press for a demilitarized zone in central Europe and for the simultaneous disbandment of the Warsaw and NATO pacts.
The party’s voting record, policy statements and the way it has dealt with its own MPs over the years, especially since Jack Layton’s passing in 2011, have rendered the New Democratic Party unrecognizable when held up against its founding principles.
Most recently the party has demonstrated some troubling anti-democratic tendencies within, in the way it has excluded, marginalized and smeared the leadership candidacy of long-time anti-imperialist activist and author Yves Engler, as Engler outlines here.
This post, however, is not about Engler but rather about a dissident NDP member of parliament, Bruce Hyer, representing Thunder Bay Superior North. Hyer, recruited by the late Jack Layton, quit the caucus in 2012 over a whipped vote under Tom Mulcair who told reporters at the time, “Bruce simply feels that he’s allowed to come up with his own decisions.”
The video profile of Bruce Hyer, who calls himself “a left-leaning capitalist”, captures ‘a-day-in-the-life’ of the northern Ontario MP. The 12-minute mini doc points to issues beyond the NDP’s internal democracy challenges, and asks questions of Canada’s partisan party system itself.
I hope you find this twelve-minute mini-doc from the archives instructive. Interested in your feedback, should you have the time to watch Independent.
I’m planning on publishing more video like this in future. Hands-up if this appeals to your interests.
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