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Written by Arash Azizi, member of Toronto Young New Democrats (TYND)
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Thursday, 26 August 2010 |
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After months of organizing and eager anticipation, the first Socialist
Summer Camp organized by the Toronto Young New Democrats (TYND) finally
happened over the weekend of August 20 to 22, and it proved to be a
major success. About two dozen attended the camp at the family
campground of Neezh Meegwunun on Georgina Island, owned by Chippewa
First Nation.
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Written by Rob Lyon
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Friday, 16 July 2010 |
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The media has recently been full of talk about a coalition between
the federal Liberal Party and the NDP. Earlier in June, it was revealed
that, behind closed doors, naturally, “senior insiders” from both
parties had been holding “secret talks” about actually merging the
parties in order to defeat the Tories. While these discussions should be taken seriously by all
socialists, workers, and youth in the NDP and the trade unions, the
reality of the situation is that a merger of the two parties is, more
than likely, not in the cards anytime soon. However, by placing the peg
of the discussion as far as a merger, the leaking of these “high-level”
discussions gives ample room, both in the Liberal Party and the NDP, for
discussions about a coalition or some sort of electoral alliance.
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Written by Fightback
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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 |
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It appears that NDP deputy leader Libby Davies has been ambushed. After being set up in an interview clearly designed to entrap her, the country’s right wing has initiated a witch-hunt. They have seized upon a series of comments she made about Israel and Palestine to smear her personally, the NDP left, and the opposition to Israeli imperialism and the struggle against the occupation in general. Disgustingly, the initiator of this tirade was none other than the NDP’s other deputy party leader, Thomas Mulcair.
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Written by Jennie Ernewein and Farshad Azadian
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Tuesday, 23 February 2010 |
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The recent by-election in the Toronto-Centre riding offered the NDP an
excellent opportunity to begin the provincial fight back against the
cuts and attacks that Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals are promising. As we
have written over the past couple of issues, the Liberals are vowing to
attack public sector jobs and services in order to balance the massive
$25-billion Ontario deficit. Although the NDP did not win the
by-election, there were some positive signs that if the party adopts the
correct slogans and platform, it can play a major role in organizing
resistance to the bosses’ attacks.
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Written by Isa Al-Jaza'iri
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Thursday, 04 February 2010 |
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On 9th November 2009, a federal by-election was held in the Montreal
riding of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. The results show important gains for
the NDP and that Quebecois workers are searching for an alternative to
the traditional bourgeois parties. This includes the
bourgeois-nationalist Bloc Quebecois, which has dominated this
working-class area since 1993. In Quebec, these developments are
important because the national question has historically been used to
cut across the class struggle, preventing the formation of a genuine
labour party.
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Written by Julian Benson
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 |
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This coming Friday (29th Jan. 2010), the Toronto Young New Democrats will be launched. Fightback welcomes the launch of this new city-wide youth club that will help to inject some much needed activism into the NDP. For far too long, there hasn't been enough activity to attract young militants into the party; the TYND will be a great way to get young workers active and involved. |
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Written by Kevin Bell
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Thursday, 26 November 2009 |
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For 30 years, the NDP has been swinging to the right. If this process were to continue it would put at risk the very position of the party as the expression of the Canadian working class. Now, as the effects of the world crisis are weighing heavily on Canadian society, within the NDP there is an attempt to take the party back to the values it was originally built on. |
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Written by Mike Palecek (Take Back the Party steering committee)
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Wednesday, 25 November 2009 |
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Fightback has long warned that the right-ward drift of the NDP leadership in British Columbia would hurt the party in the polls. The argument is often made that in order to win over “middle of the road voters,” you have to moderate your demands and program. In fact, history has proven that this moderation only leads to disaster. What is needed is a strong socialist program to inspire the mass of the population. |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Wednesday, 26 August 2009 |
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The 2009 Federal Convention of the New Democratic Party of Canada was held in Halifax recently. Normally, the party uses federal conventions to showcase its strengths. At the 2006 Convention in Quebec City, the party took a stand against the war in Afghanistan and passed its “troops out” policy. However, the convention in Halifax was markedly different in both form and content. There was not even the remotest mention of any policy that could be considered a new plank for the party’s platform. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Tuesday, 21 July 2009 |
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The effects of the economic crisis have hit Canadian workers hard over the last year. As of the beginning of June, over 362,000 jobs had disappeared in Canada since October 2008. According to Statistics Canada, Canada's unemployment rate currently stands at a 15-year high, but is going to continue to grow for years to come. As one Toronto Star columnist put it, in this situation, one would expect for workers to be turning to Canada's “socialist” party, the NDP, in droves. But, the opposite is the case. Going into this summer's federal NDP convention, the NDP needs to stand up for workers and not enter into any more coaltions with the bosses' parties. |
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Written by Kevin Bell in Vancouver
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Thursday, 09 July 2009 |
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Over 60 people crammed into a small meeting room in the first meeting of the "Take Back the Party!" campaign. Organized by Fightback, the meeting discussed the recent lacklustre BC NDP campaign and ways in which the party can be revitalized and reconnect with working class people in BC. Even though it was only the first meeting, the campaign has already received much support and attention. |
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Written by Adam Fulsom
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Tuesday, 07 July 2009 |
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On the night of 10th June, Darrell Dexter and the Nova Scotia NDP captured the Nova Scotia provincial election—the first time that the NDP had won a provincial government in the Atlantic provinces. While those in the mainstream media and the right wing of the party would credit Dexter’s “pragmatism” as the reason for his victory, the real cause lies in the ever worsening economy of Nova Scotia and the desire for change that is building in Atlantic Canada, and throughout the entire country. |
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Written by Fightback
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Friday, 19 December 2008 |
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The NDP-Liberal coalition is on its last legs but unfortunately the NDP leadership will not recognize what a disaster it has been. Here are three resolutions to highlight the issue of the coalition. Please forward these resolutions widely and pass them at your riding association, youth/student group, union local, etc. Moving these resolutions is an excellent way to make it clear that there is no unanimous support for the leadership's actions amongst the rank-and-file. |
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Written by Issa Al-Jaza'iri and Alex Frost
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Monday, 08 December 2008 |
NDP-Québec held its congress in Villeray, in Montréal, on November 15th and 16th. Approximately 200 delegates attended. Trade union representatives made important advances during this congress and delegates voted to support nationalization in the oil and gas sector.
Note: This congress occurred before the present coalition crisis. |
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Written by Fightback - www.marxist.ca
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Friday, 28 November 2008 |
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We encourage all of our readers to act now and send letters to Jack Layton and the Federal NDP saying, “Defeat the Conservatives, no Liberal-NDP Coalition!” Those who go on record as being opposed to this alliance now will be shown to have taken the correct stance as the economic crisis worsens. The NDP must not act as a left screen for Liberal attacks. |
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Written by Alex Grant - Fightback Editorial Board www.marxist.ca
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Friday, 28 November 2008 |
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With the financial crisis as a backdrop, Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government may not survive another week. Less than two months after the last election the government is facing a confidence vote on its budget update and all three opposition parties say they will vote against. Rumours are rife of a Liberal-NDP coalition to replace the Conservatives. The Conservatives must be defeated, but there can be no coalition with the bosses’ parties. |
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Written by Fightback: www.marxist.ca
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Thursday, 20 November 2008 |
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Supporters of Fightback are proposing the following resolutions at this weekend's Ontario New Democratic Youth Convention, Nov 21-23. We believe that these resolutions should form the basis for a socialist platform for the NDP. The world financial system is in crisis, proving that capitalism does not work for working families. Now is the time to put forward a bold socialist vision to save jobs and build a just society. Don’t let anybody tell you it can’t be done! |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Thursday, 20 November 2008 |
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The Ontario New Democratic Youth (ONDY) will be holding its annual convention in Toronto from the 21st to the 23rd of November. As the world watches the capitalist system enter its latest and most dire crisis, this conference will have increased importance for the future of the ONDY and the NDP. |
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Written by Miriam Martin in Vancouver
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Thursday, 31 January 2008 |
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The British Columbia New Democratic Party recently voted at its November convention to introduce a new affirmative action policy for candidate nominations. However, if we want to do away with inequality we need to have a clear understanding of where it comes from and why it exists. There are no shortcuts or band-aid solutions to the numerous problems of the capitalist world. As is generally the case, this bureaucratic attempt to impose an artificial solution will do more harm than good. |
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Written by Mike Palecek in Vancouver
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Thursday, 15 November 2007 |
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As the BC NDP convention opens, many supporters are wondering what has become of their party. The NDP is slumping in the polls and the stress is starting to show. All the while, the working class is noticeably absent from NDP policy and NDP meetings. With delegate fees to convention costing several hundred dollars, it is easy to see why. The BC NDP has never been so far from its roots – both its grassroots and its historical roots. Only bold socialist policies that answer the problems of every day people can turn the situation around. |
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Written by Fightback ONDY Members
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Tuesday, 23 October 2007 |
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On the weekend of October 26-28, the Ontario New Democratic Youth (ONDY) will be having their convention in Toronto. Coming after the failure of the NDP to make significant gains in the Ontario election, this convention marks an important opportunity for the youth to take stock of recent events and work out an action plan for the future. Fightback activists will be working hard at this convention to ensure that NDP youth adopt socialist policies that can unite working class youth and students in militant activism. These are the only policies that can build a strong ONDY that can act as a lever to turn the NDP away from narrow parliamentarism and towards becoming a mass movement. |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Tuesday, 18 September 2007 |
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Last night the Federal New Democratic Party celebrated a historic win in the Outremont by-election. In what was one of the safest Liberal seats in Quebec, the by-election victory was not even close, with the NDP winning 48% to the Liberals 29%. The NDP’s opposition to the war in Afghanistan was a key issue in this election—an issue that helped them to sway the vote away from the Liberals. However, if you want an explanation for this victory, do not look to the corporate media. They are obsessed with personalities rather than politics and they have all agreed on one thing, “Don’t mention the war!” |
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Written by Joel Bergman in Whitehorse
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Friday, 06 July 2007 |
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On Saturday June 16th, the New Democratic Party of The Yukon held their annual convention. Attempts by the Right-Wing, linked to BC NDP leader Carole James, to remove references to socialism were defeated. This marks another nail in the coffin for the bureaucratic clique that aims to turn the NDP into a version of Tony Blair's New Labour. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Thursday, 15 March 2007 |
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In a front-page story on Wednesday, the Toronto Star reported that right-wing NDP MP Pat Martin was calling for “some kind of informal coalition” with the Liberals, or risk “political obscurity.” Martin says that it is time for the NDP and the Liberals to “unite the left somehow.” Workers must stand up to philistines like Pat Martin & Co. and demand that the NDP stand up for workers’ rights and not enter into alliances with the bosses’ parties. |
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Written by Fightback
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Thursday, 15 March 2007 |
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In February, the Ontario NDP was able to capture the working-class riding of York-South Weston in a by-election. Although the riding was easily won by the Liberals in 2003, the NDP was able to win handily, based on a platform that opposed a massive pay hike for MPPs and demanding a $10/hr minimum wage in Ontario. This victory proves that a real workers' programme does lead to victory for the NDP. |
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Written by Fightback editorial board
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Saturday, 27 January 2007 |
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After a hotly contested leadership race, the Liberal Party of Canada has elected Stéphane Dion. Despite the fact that he is a man no one predicted to win, Dion managed to capture 54.7% of the votes cast at the December convention, and capture the leadership of the party. What does this mean for Canada? |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Wednesday, 18 October 2006 |
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At the time of writing, over 140 western troops have been killed in Afghanistan, including 42 Canadians. While you are reading this, the figure is undoubtedly higher. Increasingly, public opinion in Canada is turning against the war. The most recent poll revealed that 59% believe Canadian soldiers "are dying for a cause we cannot win," while just 34% disagreed with that statement. Significantly, the union-supported New Democratic Party (NDP) has officially called for troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan. This is a huge step forward for the anti-war movement and comes from the pressure of the rank-and-file of the NDP and the wider working class. However, if we are to achieve the goal of ending the war, the NDP and the anti-war movement must adopt anti-imperialist slogans and analysis. |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Tuesday, 19 September 2006 |
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From 8th September to the 10th, the New Democratic Party (NDP) held its biennial federal convention in Québec City. The NDP’s youth wing, the New Democratic Youth of Canada (NDYC), also held its convention in Québec just prior to the federal convention. |
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Written by Luis Granados Ceja
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Tuesday, 05 September 2006 |
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The young people of today are continually being written off by political leaders. There has been over a generation of funding cuts for programs benefiting young people. Hugh Mackenzie, in Funding Postsecondary Education in Ontario, writes, “After reaching a 25-year peak in 1992, provincial public services spending as a share of GDP declined year-after-year for more than a decade before stabilizing in 2003 at a substantially reduced level… Ten years of cuts at both the federal and provincial levels of government have exposed a political gap between the expectations of Canadians for public services and the reduced fiscal capacity of their governments to deliver on those expectations.” The burden of filling this gap has fallen on the shoulders of those segments of the population viewed by government as putting forward the least resistance – youth, immigrants and the poor. |
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Written by Fightback editorial board
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Tuesday, 05 September 2006 |
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Since the gains achieved in the February 2006 General Election, the NDP has appeared to be drifting and listless. 2.5 million voted NDP in a rejection of the corrupt Liberals and with no enthusiasm for Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. Now, Harper is seen as George Bush’s new lapdog in the wars against the people of Afghanistan and Lebanon. There has not been a better opportunity for the NDP to take the lead against the big-business parties in almost two decades. |
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Written by Fightback Editorial Board
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Thursday, 04 May 2006 |
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Stephen Harper’s shift to the right has taken many off guard. After all, he did everything he could to play up the moderate side of the conservative party, interested solely in cleaning up corruption and making government “open and accountable”. But all of this has proven to be nothing more than a big lie to get votes. Now the Canadian working class is faced with the challenge of defeating the conservative agenda. |
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Written by Adam Fulsom
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Thursday, 04 May 2006 |
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At this critical time the NDP leadership seems to be in a state of resignation. The leadership’s demand for a debate "but support" for the Afghanistan mission is one clear example of the public stance clashing with the position of the party membership and Canadian opinion in general. The position on childcare is a good start, but their passive support for the Conservatives undermines this position and hurts their credibility with many working people who voted for them to strongly oppose the Conservatives’ agenda. |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Friday, 01 July 2005 |
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The BC New Democratic Party recently held a barbeque to “celebrate the election campaign”. Upon receiving an invitation, any sober member of the NDP would shake their head and wonder, “What are we celebrating? We lost!” Apparently someone forgot to inform the party leaders of the election results. Only a few months ago the NDP was ahead in the polls and a victory seemed almost assured. This election was handed to them on a silver platter, but they just didn’t know how to take it. (July, 2005) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Tuesday, 17 May 2005 |
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Today is election-day in British Columbia and the BC New Democratic Party is trailing in the polls. After four years of right wing rule in British Columbia the province’s social services have been decimated. One third of the public sector has been laid off, hospitals and schools have been shut down and the minimum wage has been reduced by 20% for new workers. Gordon Campbell’s attacks have touched every sector of the working class, yet the NDP has failed to win the support of the majority of British Columbians. A series of compromises and betrayals from the leadership of the labour movement has led to a lull in the movement against the government. Only a year ago BC stood on the brink of a general strike, now all is quiet on the industrial front. This election should have been a cake walk for the NDP, but the drift to the right by the leadership has left workers uninspired. What a mess. (May, 2005) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Monday, 02 May 2005 |
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There exists a peculiar tendency on the left in Canada to believe that in order to gain support, electorally or otherwise you must water down your politics to the point of oblivion. The argument is, the less you say, the fewer people you will offend, thereby broadening your base of support. This idea flies in the face of both history and common sense. As comical as this idea may sound, its results are often tragic. (May, 2005) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Saturday, 01 January 2005 |
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After nearly four years of attacks by the Gordon Campbell Liberals, British Columbia workers are fighting back. With the NDP in a position to win May's provincial election, a major confrontation is set to take place between rank-and-file workers and the leaders of the NDP and labour movement. The task of the Marxists is to penetrate these organizations and sow them with ideas that can win. (January, 2005) |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Saturday, 01 January 2005 |
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Last month was the provincial convention of the Ontario New Democratic Party - time for New Democrats, myself included, to come together and try and decide what kind of party we are going to pretend to be for the next two years. It seems the working class interests that built this party just didn't make the agenda. (January, 2005) |
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Written by Fightback editorial board
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Monday, 01 November 2004 |
- Being the mass workers' party is nothing to sneeze at. And being in the leadership of the workers' party is even less insignificant. Capitalism, which was at its birth a revolutionary leap forward from the inefficiency and waste of feudalism, has long ago ceased to serve any real productive purpose on this planet. There is nothing normal or natural or even logical about this system. It leads to war over oil and mass slaughter for diamonds; it deprives one fifth of its population of safe drinking water and starves over thirty thousand children to death every day. There is no reason why this should not change. The conditions for socialism are, as Trotsky put so eloquently, not just ripe, but "somewhat rotten". So what's the hold up? (November, 2004)
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Written by Roland Schmidt
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Monday, 01 November 2004 |
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You have heard it before - socialism is either dead or irrelevant. Most media outlets wield it as an adjective of criminal proportions while academics state that it is an outdated ideology better suited for the industrial revolution. Even the official party of the working class in Canada, the NDP, has opted to use the term "progressive" wherever possible instead of "socialist". Although there are concerted efforts and millions of dollars dedicated to making sure that the notion of socialism never enters mainstream consciousness, it will be working class Canadians who show that these efforts are in vain. The spirit of socialism in Canada is alive and well and the recent growing popularity of the late Tommy Douglas is evidence of this. (November, 2004) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Friday, 01 October 2004 |
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When Carole James was elected leader of the BC NDP nobody would have imagined that less than a year later she would be saying things like “As the new leader of the BC New Democrats, I am reaching out to the business community in a way New Democrats have not done before," or “I want the NDP and the business community to work in partnership." But in doing so, Carole James is digging her own grave as leader of the BC NDP. (September, 2004) |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Tuesday, 01 June 2004 |
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The Liberals were reduced to a minority government, the Conservatives failed to cash in on this, and NDP, although doing relatively well failed to pick up the potential among the workers because they tried to be too much like the Liberals, too frightened to mention the "S" word - Socialism! The many abstentions indicate that huge numbers of workers and youth are disillusioned with this set up and are looking for an alternative. (June, 2004) |
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Written by L'Humanité editorial board
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Wednesday, 01 October 2003 |
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The election of Carole James as leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party represents a victory for the status quo. James ran a campaign that concentrated on one thing and one thing only… Carole James. What we did not see were any commitments to actually do anything—no commitment to renationalize the Liberals’ sell-off of public assets, no commitment to reverse the Liberals’ regressive tax hikes (sales tax, medical plan fee, etc.) or negate the $2 billion tax cut to the rich, and definitely no commitment to do anything that would go beyond the position of the previous NDP government. (November, 2003) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Wednesday, 01 January 2003 |
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As the New Democratic Party selects a new leader, capitalism is in crisis. With the economy crumbling, the US is once again preparing for war. Here in British Columbia, we’ve seen tens of thousands in the streets against the government and the BC Federation of Labour just passed a resolution at their convention that “authorizes the Federation Officers to mobilize support for workplace and community action up to and including job action by sector, region or province-wide and/or general strike”. However, amidst all of this there is no credible left candidate running for the leadership of the NDP. (January, 2003) |
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