NDP Leadership Contest comes to LFL&A

Jeff Green | Jan 12, 2012

Paul Dewar, NDP federal leadership candidate, held an event in Perth on January 8.

In what was more a concert than political rally, Fireweed and Jacob Moon performed for over 100 people at St. Paul's United Church. The numbers are significant, because the local NDP riding association rarely draws more than a handful of executive members for candidate selection meetings when federal elections are called.

When the votes were counted at last spring’s federal election, the NDP had reached a historic high of over 20,000 votes in the Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington riding, a result that is hard to attribute to anything other than the effect of the late Jack Layton on the campaign.

While Paul Dewar has not received that many endorsements from NDP MPs, he has focused his campaign on bringing in grassroots support. Events such as the one in Perth can make a difference in the campaign because the NDP are using a one-member, one-vote system to select their leader.

But even through the vote is not slated until a convention on March 24, individuals must join the party 45 days before the vote to be eligible. So candidates will be working hard to sign up members by the cut off date of February 8.

After the entertainment ended, Ross Sutherland, the riding association president and a former election candidate, introduced Dewar.

“For me, what leadership is all about is connecting with Canadians, saying there is a better way. People are looking for hope and inspiration, and find that the people who are making the decisions in government are not accountable,” Dewar said.

He pulled two examples out of recent headlines to illustrate his point.

“I went to London last week to visit the picket line at the Electro-Motive Diesel motor plant. The prime minister will not visit that plant, but he did in 2008, when he was flanked by many of the same workers to announce a $5 million inducement, on top of corporate tax cuts, for Caterpillar. The plant makes money and the workers helped bring in efficiencies, but now they are locked out after rejecting a 55% wage cut. We gave this company millions of dollars, and right now you can't get the prime minister to say a word about this. I'm not asking for the prime minister to negotiate the contract, but I'm asking for the leadership to stand up for everyday Canadians.”

He also talked about the living conditions in First Nations communities, which has come into focus in Attwapiskat in Northern Ontario. “Getting into the blame game doesn't solve problems. What I think we need to do is to say that within 10 years every reserve will have clean water, housing, energy security and access to schools, and that we start immediately to make the changes that are necessary to bring this about”.

He also said that under him the NDP would develop rural and small town agendas that “instead of taking apart support systems such as the Wheat Board, would build on supports that are in place and bring new ones forward.”

Although he is seeking the leadership of the NDP, Dewar focused most of his attacks on the Conservative Party and the prime minister.

He also poured cold water on any indication that the NDP should consider any kind of merger, either with the Liberal Party or the Green Party. To a question about a merger with the Greens, Dewar said he preferred to talk about democratic reform.

“My concern when we talk about mergers,” he said, “is that they are all about formulas to get a certain outcome. A lot of people look at that as elites talking to each other. I'm of the belief that our job is to put the best ideas forward. I think this is really about democratic reform; we need to see proportionality in our system. New Zealand has a mixed member system, and they just ratified it through referendum. I'm committed to this kind of solution rather than party mergers.”

Summing up his position, Paul Dewar said that he recalls something that Jack Layton said at the press conference in July when he announced he was fighting a new cancer.

“It was a simple point, but it struck home with me. He said 'Let’s take better care of each other', and that's really what motivates me in this race.”