The NDP's problem is not the candidate, it's the lack of policy alternative. We just spent 10 years on very incremental small potatoes. Sure non-universal dental and pharmacare is absolutely not nothing but these are not normal times. We need some Mamdani style policy proposals, a morally ambitious program to reform Canada.
Things like:
- am aggressive tax policy to curb income and wealth inequality, which is a ticking bomb for our democracy
- massive increases in non-market housing to address the housing crisis
- free university to expand and train our next generation of doctors and nurses
- a decisive energy transition and an actual war on the fossil economy, from the wells to the pumps
- a new urban strategy framed around transit and active transport
- a restorative economy and actual reconciliation and land back to indigenous people
- a program for opening our borders aiming to grow and renew our smaller towns and cities
- a renewal of our glorious Peacekeeping tradition and a positive role in the world based on an uncompromising commitment to international law
We are facing a slew of crises from the climate, to fascism, to billionaire dragons siphoning capital and throwing us into economic stagnation.
If we don't argue for our ideals, who will?
The NDP needs to do its job and present a brave democratic socialist vision for Canada and start shifting the Overton window to a future where the Liberals would be the right and the Tories the minor party.