Following Mulcair down his preferred path will involve a leap of faith on the part of many delegates. After a year on the job, the NDP leader trails his party in popularity.
Polls show that Mulcair’s connection to voters — including many New Democrats — remains elusive. Some of the moves contemplated this weekend could further distance the leader from the party’s traditional base.
But those same polls suggest that a policy rebranding may also be overdue. In spite of the NDP’s generally competent handling of its larger role in Parliament, many voters continue to look to the third-place Liberals as the alternative to the ruling Conservatives.
NDP spin doctors have suggested that the success of this first party gathering under Mulcair’s leadership could be measured on the scale of the willingness of the delegates to remove the word socialist from the party’s manifesto.
They are setting the bar pretty low.
The bid to rewrite the party’s mission statement was initiated by Jack Layton at a convention held in Vancouver in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 election. It has been in gestation since then.
Montreal is ground zero of Mulcair’s power base. Indeed, this really is the first convention where Quebec’s voice stands to be heard at a level on par with its unprecedented presence in the NDP caucus.
If Mulcair failed to complete a symbolic about-turn initiated under his predecessor in this environment, there would be grounds to question his capacity to steer the party to a new course.
But that is just one of the defining issues that will be put to the New Democrats this weekend. And on some of the most central topics, a meeting of minds may not come easily.
Free trade: With deals with the European Union, China and the Pacific Rim countries on the drawing board, free trade will very much be on the radar of the second half of the Conservative mandate.
Mulcair wants the latitude to judge each deal on its merits. The ongoing negotiation with the EU in particular enjoys all-party support provincially in Quebec and the NDP premiers of Nova Scotia and Manitoba are in on the talks.
But at least four Ontario riding associations beg to differ. They have put forward a resolution calling on the party to actively oppose all the contemplated agreements. On the pro side, a more centrist proposal sets out a series of criteria designed to allow the NDP to come onside future free-trade deals.
Resource development: Resolutions to nationalize the oil industry or to phase out the oil sands are dead on arrival. But it may be harder to come to a consensus on a party approach to the various pipeline options that are currently under study to link the oil sands to new markets.
Electoral co-operation: Mulcair has ruled out a strategic rapprochement with the Liberals and the Greens to beat the Conservatives in 2015 but the issue is not going away. Contrary resolutions for and against reaching out to the other opposition parties have been put forward by various ridings associations.
With somewhat similar goals in mind in 2005, then-official opposition leader Stephen Harper brought his newly reunited Conservatives to Montreal for a founding convention. They did not reinvent the wheel but the party shed enough baggage to enter an election campaign later that year with a less contentious agenda.
At the time the Conservatives demonstrated that it is easier to make a policy handbook more attractive to voters than to turn a prickly leader into a cuddly one. That is a lesson that should not be lost on the New Democrats as they seek to regain some of their lost momentum this weekend.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Chantal Hébert
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