NDP name change?

[Hatman 🍁]

I'm going to the convention. I'm leaning towards supporting the name change, because of all the publicity it will give us.

[Hatman 🍁]

I'm going to the convention. I'm leaning towards supporting the name change, because of all the publicity it will give us.

Are there any proposed names besides just dropping the "New"?

Well, not yet. It needs 2/3 support to amend the party's name, and if that passes, I think the powers that be will put it up to the membership at large to vote on, and will include other names as well. I've heard the following possibilities:

*Democratic Party
*Social Democratic Party
*Progressive Party

[Hatman 🍁]

Do far-right/nationalist parties have claim to using "Canada" in their name like they do to using "America" in the United States?

Canada has no registered far right parties.

[Hatman 🍁]

Actually, both the Liberals and Conservatives have the word "Canada" in their official name, as do the Greens; among major parties, only the NDP and the Bloc don't.

I'm a little puzzled by the claims that there are no nationalist or far-right parties in Canada - perhaps nothing quite in the neo-Nazi sense, but surely Christian Heritage and the Western Block Party are far right. The Canadian Action Party, meanwhile, is as nationalist as they come, even if it's a little hard to tell whether they're far right or far left.

There are no far right parties in the European definition. The CHP isn't that bad, they are just like Republicans in the U.S. The WBP may be a better example, but it's still a stretch. The CAP are economic nationalists, so they are far left.

[Hatman 🍁]

Is the word "socialist" or even "social" sort of tainted like it is in America?

Socialist is somewhat tainted, but not as bad as in the U.S. It's probably tainted like the word liberal is down there.

[Hatman 🍁]

Progressive Socialist Party?

Socialist is really pushing it. Social Democratic is probably the limit.

Anyways: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_party_of_canada

The name would probably just be "Democratic Party" (no "of Canada")

[Hatman 🍁]

There's actually a much more substantive issue than the name coming up at the convention, which is a proposal to split the federal and provincial wings like the other parties do. Right now the only way to join the federal NDP (unless you live in Quebec) is to become a member of your provincial party (and you can't be a member of the provincial party without also joining the federal one). The financing is also kind of confused, with the provincial parties giving a bunch of money to the federal one from their membership fees.

It might cause a bit of confusion initially for members who are used to just renewing one membership, but it's probably better in the long run to have the federal party independently financed. There's also a basic freedom-of-association issue for those who support one level of NDP but not the other.

I will oppose this. It's bad enough we don't have a party in Quebec anymore.

[Hatman 🍁]

There's actually a much more substantive issue than the name coming up at the convention, which is a proposal to split the federal and provincial wings like the other parties do. Right now the only way to join the federal NDP (unless you live in Quebec) is to become a member of your provincial party (and you can't be a member of the provincial party without also joining the federal one). The financing is also kind of confused, with the provincial parties giving a bunch of money to the federal one from their membership fees.

It might cause a bit of confusion initially for members who are used to just renewing one membership, but it's probably better in the long run to have the federal party independently financed. There's also a basic freedom-of-association issue for those who support one level of NDP but not the other.

I will oppose this. It's bad enough we don't have a party in Quebec anymore.

Each time you had an NDP branch in Quebec, you expelled it because the branch was for Quebec independance. Almost all leftists are for Quebec independance. I'm probably an exception.

I guess a leftist federalist in Quebec is as rare as a leftist unionist in Northern Ireland.

[Hatman 🍁]

I always found it odd that as one of the prime members of the British Commonwealth that Canada's social democratic party doesn't call it's self Labour.

It's probably related to the fact that they don't play cricket in Canada.

They do!

Well enough to win against Bangladesh, at least.

Indeed, there's always a bunch out by Rideau Hall playing on the grounds there.

[Hatman 🍁]

No one plays cricket in northern Ontario. Actually, I'm the only person here with internet service.

lol

[Hatman 🍁]

Hello all from Nova Scotia!

I'm on my aunt's computer, which I've been trying to avoid, but now that the convention is done, I'm somewhat bored, so I've been lured here.

Anyways, I supported the name change, but unfortunately it never got discussed. Word is the powers that be in the party were attempting to filibuster it. We had an hour allotted time on the Sunday to discuss internal party resolutions. We spent 50 minutes on a 7 page constitutional amendment. It took maybe 20 minutes to read the darn thing to everyone, which some wanted to not do because it was so long. Then we divided it up by motion, and dealt with each motion seperately. The vote on the name change was 5th on the list, so there was no way we were getting to it. Also, the then President of the Party who was chairing the votes (Anne McGrath) was (according to some) deliberately making mistakes so people would question her and delay the process.

Anyways, judging by the number of people wearing "N" buttons, the support for the name change just wasn't there.

As for those poll results, I must say they are quite interesting. It re-affirms my support for a name change.