Minassian's Misogynist Attack, Courage to Leap, James Laxer & more -- 2018 on The Left Chapter in review

2018 saw over 330 posts of various kinds on The Left Chapter. These ranged from analysis to opinion pieces to left history to art and recipe posts.

Consistently popular as well were our vintage postcard and photography posts. One of these, Covered Bridges of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine -- A Vintage Postcard Folder  was the most popular of these we have ever done and very nearly made our Top Ten list. Our three part look at Revolutionary Cuba 1975: Sixteen Years of Socialist Construction with dozens of vintage photographs was also widely viewed and shared. There were many others such as In the Delta of the Volga -- Images of Soviet Astrakhan and Region, 1976 or 20 Panoramic Views of Soviet Ulyanovsk 1969 -- Lenin's Birthplace. 

Meanwhile we continued our Vintage Leftist Leaflet project with posts like Sitdown Strike -- Heritage of Struggle - UAW Education Department 1965. Readers can look forward to many more of these in 2019. Similarly we started our looks at Soviet social history that included such posts as The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic 1987: Photos, Culture, Economy, History & more -- Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union Series and the very popular Trams and buses in the USSR -- A look at public transit in the Soviet Union, 1976. 

I want to thank all of our readers and contributors very much for their feedback, support, criticisms and engagement.

The year had many posts that came very, very close to making this list. We also had contributions from writers that were widely read and shared and that included Gabriel Haythornthwaite's trenchant analysis Ontario’s 2018 Election: Pessimism Today, Strategic Organizing Tomorrow , Yves Engler's It is time to call a technical foul on Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri's ties to Paul Kagame and Nathaniel Laxer's The true seasonal message is that the monarchy has got to go. 

The Left Chapter also posted petitions and appeals such as Open Letter Re: The Closing of the Saskatoon Office of the Provincial Archives at the University of Saskatchewan and A call for the NDP to withdraw from the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed this year and I look forward to seeing what interesting viewpoints and arguments we see next year!

(Remember that if you have a left point-of-view or opinion, a recipe or a story you want to share or if you want to share a petition/appeal or upcoming event you can send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!)

Readers can look forward to new features in 2019 including videos and interviews. Remember also that on New Year's Day we will post our list of the top food and recipe posts of 2018.

Here, without further ado, are the top ten posts (in terms of hits) on The Left Chapter in 2018:

1) We all could have seen Minassian's misogynist attack coming if we had wanted to look

Horrified. Disgusted. Angry. Those words and many others can accurately describe how myself and so many others feel about the terrible, senseless attack in Toronto that claimed the lives of 10 innocent people and seriously injured 14 others.

But what I am not is surprised.

See also: In the wake of another mass killing in Toronto we have to keep talking about male violence

2) The Courage to Leap comes far too late to matter

If you have ever wanted a snapshot of why the left in Canada is a joke, here it is.

See also: Socialist International backs BDS. When will Canada's NDP?

3) James Laxer -- Canadian iconoclast 1941-2018

A unique figure during these past few decades of Canadian politics, Jim always tried to fight for and suggest a path forward towards a fairer and more just Canada, an independent and socialist Canada, regardless of whose feathers this ruffled or whose feet he stepped on. Not one to shy away from what he believed, he provides a lesson to all of us on the left of how to stand up for what we think is right no matter the short term cost and irrespective of careerist goals.

That, as much as anything else, is a legacy worth embracing and one I hope is not soon forgotten.

4) In-depth interview with Ryan Meili, Saskatchewan NDP leadership candidate: “As change is happening, are we going to be leading it, or just watching it happen?”

By Ammario Reza

As the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party’s leadership race winds down, I have a chat with Dr. Ryan Meili, who is campaigning to be the next leader of the party. (Editor's note...Dr. Meili ultimately won the leadership).

5) The grotesque absurdity of left-liberal support for porn and prostitution needs to be questioned after Minassian's misogynist attack

There is no liberal or left case for porn or prostitution that is not simply aiding and abetting the worst and most dehumanizing aspects that have led us here.

6) An interview with NDP Parliamentary Leader Guy Caron

by Ammario Reza

In the federal NDP timeline, we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year in 2018, rounding up the first quarter since the federal NDP leadership race four months ago that was ultimately won by Jagmeet Singh on the first ballot.

7) Tie: "Ban on Jews" -- A 1933 antisemitic beach edict in Long Branch reminds of Toronto's past on the anniversary of the Christie Pits Riot

Today is the 85th anniversary of the Christie Pits Riot, a pivotal moment in the fight against fascism and Nazism in Toronto and Canada in the early 1930s.

See also: "You can't hang us all. They will avenge me." - Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Anti-Nazi Hero Murdered November 29, 1941

7) Tie: James Laxer on Canadian Social Democracy: Past, Present and Future

By Matt Fodor 


In this wide-ranging interview, conducted in April 2014, James Laxer discusses his personal history and involvement in the NDP and the Waffle, the ideological trajectory of Canadian social democracy and the continuing relevance of a socialist vision for the future.

8) Why are Toronto police officers striking a pose with far-right mayoral candidate Faith Goldy?

Faith Goldy, a "reactionary, islamophobic Rebel News contributor, turned “Euro-Canadian Catholic Nationalist”" held a campaign rally for her Toronto mayoral run today. As is common after such events she posted a photo of her and her volunteers on twitter.

9) Chaos Theory: For Doug Ford disruption will be the plan

On his first day in office in 2010 newly elected Toronto Mayor Rob Ford strode out before assembled reporters and proclaimed “Ladies and gentlemen, the war on the car stops today . . . Transit City is over".

See also: Doug Ford's bully boy antics may yet derail his vicious administration

10) Doug Ford wants you to subsidize the poverty wages of corporations

Any plan that frames tax cuts or credits as an alternative to higher wages is by definition asking the people of the province to help ensure that businesses can continue to pay workers wages that they cannot live on.

See also: Ontario Conservative MPP Ross Romano's grotesque comments against cancer medication coverage

Have a happy and safe New Year! See you all in 2019.

James Laxer, the Courage to Leap, Ryan Meili & more -- February and March on The Left Chapter in review

February and March saw 46 posts on The Left Chapter of various kinds. While it had our continuing projects, recipes, analysis and saw the launch of a Free Transit Resource Page, it was also on February 23rd that my father, James Laxer, died unexpectedly in Paris.

Many of the posts were related to his legacy and the tremendous impact he had on Canadian socialism and political thinking.

Thanks very much to all our readers and contributors.

If you have an article, editorial, analysis, recipe or story you would like to contribute there are details on how to do so on our Submissions page as well as at the end of this post.

Here are the top six posts, in terms of hits, from February and March.

1) The Courage to Leap comes far too late to matter

Have you heard the news?

A "revolution" is coming to Ottawa!

I know, it is exciting and unexpected right?

And, unless you suddenly think that revolution has become a meaningless word it is also not happening at all.

Read more.

2) James Laxer -- Canadian iconoclast 1941-2018

A unique figure during these past few decades of Canadian politics, Jim always tried to fight for and suggest a path forward towards a fairer and more just Canada, an independent and socialist Canada, regardless of whose feathers this ruffled or whose feet he stepped on. Not one to shy away from what he believed, he provides a lesson to all of us on the left of how to stand up for what we think is right no matter the short term cost and irrespective of careerist goals.

That, as much as anything else, is a legacy worth embracing and one I hope is not soon forgotten.

Read more.

3) In-depth interview with Ryan Meili, Saskatchewan NDP leadership candidate: “As change is happening, are we going to be leading it, or just watching it happen?”

By Ammario Reza

As the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party’s leadership race winds down, I have a chat with Dr. Ryan Meili, who is campaigning to be the next leader of the party.

Read more.

4) In Memoriam: James Laxer 1941 - 2018

It is with an extremely heavy heart and great sadness that I have to share with you the news of my father, James Laxer's sudden death of natural causes in Paris early today, February 23, 2018. This shocking and totally unexpected news has been devastating for our family and has not sunk in yet.

Read more. 

5) James Laxer on Canadian Social Democracy: Past, Present and Future

By Matt Fodor

In this wide-ranging interview, conducted in April 2014, James Laxer discusses his personal history and involvement in the NDP and the Waffle, the ideological trajectory of Canadian social democracy and the continuing relevance of a socialist vision for the future.

Read more.

6) If Doug Ford won, what does it mean for Ontario?

The apparent victory of Doug Ford as the new Progressive Conservative leader in Ontario is fascinating on a number of levels. After the fiasco of his brother's administration in Toronto, his losing campaign against John Tory for Mayor of Toronto that saw the power of so-called strategic voting at work, his inherently polarizing approach to politics and even his own claims (prior to his victory of course) that the results of the leadership vote would be "corrupted" would have led one to think that a party on the verge of a landslide election victory would have stepped back from the possible abyss that is Doug Ford.

Read more.

Very close to this list was our most successful vintage postcard post to date: Covered Bridges of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine -- A Vintage Postcard Folder

Our top food related post of the period was: Crispy Panko Dijon Pork Schnitzel

Do you have a left point-of-view or opinion, event or petition, a recipe or a story you want to share?

Send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!

See also: John Horgan, Transit Fare Fallacies, Guy Caron & more -- December and January on The Left Chapter in review

See also: Jagmeet Singh, Bill 62, Catherine McKenna & More -- October and November on The Left Chapter in review

NDP "Democracy", Ontario Liberal Injustices, Etobicoke Thrift Shops & more -- April and May on The Left Chapter in review

April and May saw 38 posts of various kinds on The Left Chapter as well as the launch of a few new features.

Overall the numbers were very strong and many of the articles that did not make this round-up's list would have easily made those of a few months or a year ago! Thanks to all our readers and contributors.

Posts ranged from Simon Dougherty's excellent analysis of the underlying dark side of Trudeau and "Elbowgate", to looking at vintage Soviet children's stories and young adult histories, to our first look at vintage streetscape photography of Vancouver.

We launched four new features on The Left Chapter. Toronto writer A.M. wrote a first "Modest Proposal" column calling for the nationalization of Canada's telecom industry, a Toronto bi-weekly municipal politics journal debuted with parts one and two, the first of a series of High Park journeys began as did the first in a series of photographic trips to the amazing waterfront parks of South Etobicoke.

With any further ado, here are the top six posts on The Left Chapter, in terms of hits, for the months of April and May.

1) NDP inhibits internal democracy with steep leadership race entry fee

Excited about the possibilities that the upcoming NDP leadership race might allow?

Wondering if an insurgent campaign might arise and if an outsider or unexpected candidate might lead to something akin to what happened with Corbyn in the Labour Party?

Read More! 

2) Ontario's poverty gap puts the lie to Wynne's 'social justice' pretensions

Back in 2013 when she was running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, Kathleen Wynne famously told the Toronto Star that she wanted to be known as "the social justice premier". She also said that when it came to "liberal values", "I believe social justice is what drives us".

Yet, when it comes to social assistance rates and those trying to live on them in Ontario, after 13 years in office this alleged liberal value of social justice is, to say the least, on scant display.

Read More! 

3) 5 Hidden Gem Thrift Shops in South Etobicoke

South Etobicoke, a once suburban lakefront neighbourhood on Toronto's outskirts, is a rapidly growing community that is seeing a new burst of activity with the dramatic expansion of Humber College, an influx of new residents and an emerging restaurant and pub scene.

Nestled among some of the city's most spectacular waterside parks (some of which I have looked at before and more of which we will be featuring as summer approaches) the communities of Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch are increasingly diverse. They also have often very quirky and old-school commercial strips.

Read More! 

4) 3 silly narratives that have emerged in the wake of Mulcair's defeat

As everyone presumably knows by now, Tom Mulcair has been ousted as leader of the NDP.

In the wake of this defeat, while some are celebrating, others are very angry that Tom got the proverbial boot.

Read More! 

5) There was no NDP Leap

What is going on in Canada's "mainstream" left?

According to many -- including those on both sides of this debate -- it seems that the NDP has taken some great leap to the left by embracing the activist Leap Manifesto backed by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis.

Read More! 

6) At what cost power -- Whither the NDP & Leap?

By A.M.

With its recent rejection of leader Thomas Mulcair, as well as its (decidedly tepid) willingness to at least entertain the idea of debate on the Leap Manifesto, the NDP has shown itself to be more resilient than previously thought. Much to the shock of those of us on the Left, some New Democrats seem to be considering a real political shift. With elected representatives like Parkdale-High Park MPP Cheri DiNovo calling openly for a return to the socialism on which the party was founded - to say nothing of the activists and citizens who have signed the Leap Manifesto - the NDP may yet resurrect the prospect of a socialist Canada. Predictably, this has been met with fierce resistance from the hero-worshiping, and ever-shrinking, cult of NDP partisans. The battle of principles versus power seems to be in full swing.

Read More! 

Although it was published originally on May 1, 2015, the post "5 Great Songs for International Workers' Day! Featuring Paul Robeson, Billy Bragg, The Red Army Choir & more" actually got so many hits this year when reposted on Facebook and Twitter that it would have made the list above had it been a new post. People love great leftist music it seems!

The top food post for the period was "Maurya East Indian Roti in Mimico -- Some of the best Toronto has to offer!".

Do you have a left point-of-view or opinion, a recipe or a story you want to share?

Send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!

See also: Bernie Sanders, the Ghomeshi Verdict, the Calgary Police & more - February and March on The Left Chapter in review

See also: Racist refugee myths, NDP delusions, Tom Mulcair & more -- December and January on The Left Chapter in review

At what cost power -- Whither the NDP & Leap?

By A.M.

With its recent rejection of leader Thomas Mulcair, as well as its (decidedly tepid) willingness to at least entertain the idea of debate on the Leap Manifesto, the NDP has shown itself to be more resilient than previously thought. Much to the shock of those of us on the Left, some New Democrats seem to be considering a real political shift. With elected representatives like Parkdale-High Park MPP Cheri DiNovo calling openly for a return to the socialism on which the party was founded - to say nothing of the activists and citizens who have signed the Leap Manifesto - the NDP may yet resurrect the prospect of a socialist Canada. Predictably, this has been met with fierce resistance from the hero-worshiping, and ever-shrinking, cult of NDP partisans. The battle of principles versus power seems to be in full swing.

When Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis unveiled the Leap Manifesto during last year's federal election campaign, I admit that I was quite skeptical of its possible impact. A strongly social democratic political document, directly calling out the plague of neo-liberalism, was not something I anticipated to catch on with Canadians. Predictably, right-wing blowhards like Rex Murphy and Conrad Black somehow managed to denounce it as both unrealistic and horrifically dangerous (after all, conservatives are not known for their logical abilities)! But I took a second look and, despite my reservations, was very impressed. A principled, progressive document that prioritizes Aboriginal treaty rights? Count me in.

The NDP, true to form, pounced on it as wrong-headed and destructive. No less an authority than Nathan Cullen, who then was poised to become Canada's Finance Minister, dismissed the Manifesto as "not the way to build a sustainable government."

And yet the Leap lives on.

The NDP, in a great act of direct democracy and political goodwill, resolved to debate the Leap in its riding associations for the next two years. Amazing! Party brass -- who are likely to be proven correct -- see this resolution as a happy medium wherein they can appear progressive, and actually accomplish less than nothing. Member resolutions, even when they directly endorse a genuinely progressive position, very rarely come within a hundred miles of official NDP platforms.

Left with this latest betrayal by the NDP, where do we turn in the aforementioned debate between principles and power? A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to attend a Leap Manifesto town hall hosted by Avi Lewis and Cheri DiNovo. I saw Torontonians of all social stripes connect their own experiences and activism to struggles like Black Lives Matter, Occupy, Idle No More and many other progressive - that is to say socialist - movements. I was fortunate enough to meet and speak to an older woman who has worked tirelessly for the NDP since before it even formally existed. She told me that she was exasperated to see the party fall so far as to have a leader who defended Margaret Thatcher. Her heartbreak was palpable.

What kind of progressives are we when we praise proto-fascists like Thatcher? When our only fiscal concern is balanced budgets? When we dismiss organic, democratic movements as "unsustainable"?

The answer is - we're Liberals.

The NDP, as the "conscience of Parliament" that so many professional social democrats sneer at, forced major concessions on issues that affect real people. Socialists, working in and outside the CCF and NDP, created Medicare (as insufficient as it is). They demanded and won union rights, employment insurance and workplace safety. Socialists have been at the front of all movements for women's liberation in this country - including the rights to vote, take maternity leave and access on-demand abortion. The idea that socialism is unrealistic is not just historically inaccurate – it’s absolutely insulting to the millions of ordinary people knocking on doors, signing petitions and being beaten and murdered by police for what they believe in.

The NDP faithful, in their aggressive posturing and historical ignorance, often quote Saint Tommy Douglas. We've all heard the "'tis not too late.."-style quotes a million times at this point. But even I, already bitterly cynical about the NDP, was not prepared for the historical and political betrayal trotted out on the campaign trail. Among many other things, Thomas Mulcair had the gall to compare his balanced-budget pledge to the CCF's fiscal record, noting that under Douglas, the party ran seventeen straight balanced budgets and paid down Saskatchewan’s massive debt. This is certainly true, but it ignores the ideological context in which the party was operating, which prevented it from obtaining any significant financial help (no problem for today's Bay Street-friendly New Democrats). It also ignores the religious motivations (good ol' Christian thrift, etc.) that most CCF voters supported.

Even with these constraints - like the crippling debt incurred by the previous Liberal government - the CCF government managed to bring Medicare to this continent, lift millions out of the poverty of the Dust Bowl, create arts programs, expand unionization rights, and so much more.

What would Tommy have thought about today’s imperialist, reactionary party? In an interview later in his life, Tommy was asked if he regretted never having enjoyed power country-wide. His response was, "I'm not interested in getting power unless you can do something with this power. I have watched politicians, for the last 40 years, drop their principles in order to get power." I defy NDP partisans to find more than a handful of their MPs and MPPs who don’t fit that description!

I’m not so stupid as to believe that the NDP will be reformed. I think it’s still possible – after all, who’d have guessed that Jeremy Corbyn would one day become the leader of the British Labour Party? But I see it as a largely futile attempt, if honourable in some ways.

Let’s build a Left movement and get back to being the “conscience of Parliament.”

Let’s get back to being socialists.

“What is this free enterprise system? It is the law of the jungle applied to economics. It is the law of every man for himself, as the elephant said when he was dancing among the chickens. That is not a bad philosophy if […] you happen to be in the elephant class, but it is likely to be depressing if you are a farmer or worker, and belong in the chicken group. Free enterprise means unrestricted competition; the race to the swift and the battle to the strong; nature red in tooth and claw.” - Tommy Douglas

A.M. is a writer in Toronto 

See also: There was no NDP Leap

See also: The NDP and budget deficits: Not the Tommy Douglas vision

Do you have a left point-of-view or opinion, a recipe or a story you want to share?

Send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!

There was no NDP Leap

What is going on in Canada's "mainstream" left?


According to many -- including those on both sides of this debate -- it seems that the NDP has taken some great leap to the left by embracing the activist Leap Manifesto backed by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis.


The debate around Leap is one well worth having in Canada's left broadly as well as within the NDP more specifically, I suppose, given that the NDP sadly remains the elephant in the Canadian left's rather small room.

Personally, I think Leap is a flawed document that still deserves critical support. It attempts to confront very real and very frightening environmental challenges that face us both in Canada and globally and does so without the rose-coloured glasses that lead many to diversions like attempts to build "Green Capitalism". While it is nowhere near as radical as some have suggested and while it has its blind spots and even pronounced weaknesses (to one of which we will return), and while its announcement had that pandering to a celebrity lineup that many found off-putting and even counterproductive to such a venture, it still presents the possibility of an important alternative to today's politics and provides a framework that can at least be built upon.

To reject the manifesto in its entirety in some sweeping denunciation or to portray it, as some have, as somehow a product of those fictional clueless Toronto leftist "elitists" that reactionaries and their fellow-travelers like Smokey Thomas love to prattle on about, strikes me as not only wrong-headed but, in the latter case, borderline offensive.

All that aside, however, what is making all of the endless pro-and-con articles and statements about the Leap Manifesto so odd is that so many of them are framed in incredibly over-the-top terms as if what happened at the Edmonton convention was a decisive and irreversible moment that has occurred, for better or worse, in NDP and Canadian social democratic history.

And that would be all well and good but for the fact that the NDP did NOT adopt the Leap Manifesto! At all. The party and its delegates did not even adopt a framework for adopting the manifesto as policy.

All that they did was agree to a resolution that said -- after praising the Leap Manifesto as high-minded and in keeping with NDP traditions -- that its ideas “can and should be debated and modified on their own merits and according to the needs of various communities and all parts of Canada” and that sent the manifesto to be debated within the party until the next convention in 2018.

Despite the hyperbole on both sides this is not a victory for the NDP's "left" or for those serious about the ideas of Leap. Rather, it is a typical NDP say nothing "compromise" non-resolution aiming to make a divisive issue go away for at least a little while -- in this case at least two years -- that has somehow been interpreted as a big victory for the manifesto's backers.

Why exactly?

While many might see it as important that the NDP has agreed to debate it -- which is all that they did -- they should also remember that NDP internal "debates', insofar as they are even allowed to really occur, are usually the kiss of death for anything interesting. The NDP is a place that radical ideas are most often taken to die or to simply fade away -- and two years in more than enough time to allow this to happen as social media and the news cycle move on to other things.

In the end, the NDP, so far, has done nothing more than agree to debate the manifesto after saying a few nice things about it. And that renders much of the commentary of the last few days not simply premature, but in some cases bizarre and totally silly.

It highlights the left's weakness that such intense stances have been taken on such a relatively mundane statement that Canada's social democratic party has not even, in whole or in part, adopted yet!

Beyond that, though, is the reality that what has transpired does highlight one flaw of the idea of the manifesto that many have pointed out from the start -- that being that it sought to get people to sign on to it and to embrace its ideas in a "non-partisan" way as opposed to using the manifesto as a platform to build a coherent electoral political movement and organization,  either inside or outside of a party like the NDP, to fight for its implementation.

For an apparently radical manifesto it has a surprising "appeal to authority" aspect to it that seems more than a bit utopian.

In fact, the compromise resolution, by appearing to keep the manifesto alive within the NDP without doing anything to organize around it or adopt it, might actually help to dissipate or prevent calls to build something like the Waffle or the NPI with Leap as part of its basis.

And without the emergence of such an organized attempt to change the party and its institutions, as well as its entrenched (and relatively small) power elite and profoundly undemocratic practices (especially during elections) it is difficult to see ultimately how Leap will be adopted in anything beyond a token way.

It is important to remember that the NDP has a long established tradition of running during elections on platforms drafted entirely by backroom strategists and the party leader and their clique -- platforms that bear little to no resemblance to any resolutions or polices adopted by its membership!

I think that a strong case could be made that the fundamental ideas of Leap -- as well as a broader truly anti-capitalist platform -- can only be fully realized by the emergence of a new left or "left front" style electoral force in Canada. However, if those within the NDP backing the Leap Manifesto seriously want to see it implemented in a meaningful way , they had best do the work to find and to organize a coherent movement around a leadership candidate who will then actually back it in full.

Otherwise, whether the NDP "debates" Leap for two years or twenty, it is not going to happen.

Period.

See also: 3 silly narratives that have emerged in the wake of Mulcair's defeat

See also: Fred Checkers and the state of democracy in the NDP

3 silly narratives that have emerged in the wake of Mulcair's defeat

As everyone presumably knows by now, Tom Mulcair has been ousted as leader of the NDP.

In the wake of this defeat, while some are celebrating, others are very angry that Tom got the proverbial boot.

And, as often happens in these cases, people start saying silly shit and making dumb assertions that are simply not supported by reality.

Given that we are dealing with NDP hacks here, these narratives are especially bizarre.

Here are three of them that I am seeing all over social media that are, frankly, bordering on the inane.

1) The decision is unjust. As the entire membership voted to elect Mulcair, it should only have been by a vote of the entire membership that he be removed. 

Can anybody say sour grapes!

And, please.

One could make a strong case that Mulcair would likely have fared worse in a general membership vote, but regardless the leadership review vote was held totally according to the party's constitution and norms. It would have been held had he won the 2015 election! If you think the system is flawed fight to change the party's constitution,

But, you don't get to say the rules are bad just because you dislike the result or outcome.

What if the vote had gone the other way? Would any of those using this line be saying that all members should have had a say in him continuing on as leader? I think not.

The constitution of the NDP gives delegates this power and oversight ability.

They used it. Get over it and move on.

2) There goes Quebec!

This is a pretty humorous one on a number of levels.

Part of the reasoning for initially electing Mulcair was that he would supposedly preserve the inroads and NDP bastion that Layton had created in Quebec.

Except he didn't. In the election of 2015, the Quebec caucus went from 59 elected members to 16.

For some unknown reason, in spite of this, apologists for Mulcair continued with this line even after it had been disproved by, you know, reality, and used it as a case for keeping him on.

They continue to persist with it now. Give it up.

3) The party has chosen the Leap Manifesto over electability! The radicals are taking over!

Oddly, the party's left is also partially responsible for perpetuating this one.

Whatever its merits, the NDP did NOT adopt the Leap Manifesto at its convention. In fact, they adopted a compromise resolution that sent it  back to be discussed, examined, debated, etc, etc, by NDP riding associations which will then bring back all the fruits of their labours to the 2018 convention where a version of the manifesto that may or may not have been modified may or may not be adopted.

It is also likely that Mulcair signaling his alleged openness to the Leap Manifesto actually contributed to his downfall by alienating the very large Alberta contingent.

So what the hell are people talking about?

If you know anything about the way the NDP works internally, this process will probably be a joke, and the party never runs on its membership polices during elections anyway,  so unless they elect a leader who is actually behind the manifesto its adoption will, were it to even happen, mean squat.

Further, other than the repudiation of Mulcair, the establishment backed candidates won all the votes for party office. There was no left shift in the internal power brokers within the apparatus at all.

None.

But, even assuming the party does adopt the Leap Manifesto in a meaningful way, how will that harm the party's electoral chances versus...ummmm...right now?

Not sure if everyone was asleep for the last few months, but the leader who was supposed to deliver the goods with his moderation and caution blew it big time. The NDP lost under Mulcair and lost badly. It now sits at under 12% in popular support in public opinion polls.

Similar centrist campaigns have also failed rather badly in BC, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan lately, so where is all of this promised electoral success? Alberta has been the exception to the rule, but there were also a specific set of circumstances at play there, and in some respects Notley ran a somewhat more radical campaign in tone.

Overall, the evidence is pretty overwhelming that the shift to the apparently "electable" center has been a flop. Sacrificing principle has not delivered power!

At any rate, much of this is predictable.

False narratives are hard to relinquish, so why not double down on them? The NDP's right and its hacks have been very good at that over the years and there is little reason to expect any different from them now.

See also: Tom Mulcair exits stage right -- too late and not soon enough!

Tom Mulcair exits stage right -- too late and not soon enough!

Tom Mulcair lost.

Much to this writer's surprise, NDP delegates have ousted Mulcair as leader of the party.

This is richly deserved.

As I have written of before, Mulcair's leadership failed on its own premises and in every conceivable objective way. It did not even have the virtue of principle to have made these failures worthwhile.

His transparently phony attempt to "shift left" in recent days seems to have fooled no one and may have even alienated the Alberta contingent at the convention which was, in fact, one of the largest. Mulcair paid lip service to supporting the Leap Manifesto which Rachel Notley made clear she strongly opposes fundamental aspects of.

Mulcair's ouster is, on every level, a positive development. He was without doubt the most right wing leader in the party's history and ran a top-down and profoundly undemocratic party and campaign.

What remains to be seen is what this defeat signifies.

All the other party elections went to establishment candidates, the party parried (for now) calls to adopt the Leap Manifesto and it is by no means certain that Mulcair's replacement will be on the left.

Further, the very fact that there was even a question about whether or not Mulcair should remain as leader says a lot about the NDP's internal culture, and nothing good. Likewise with the reality that very, very few figures in positions of influence came out against Mulcair and those that did mostly did so in the final days, that no members of caucus did, that many of those who did finally step forward had little or nothing critical to say when it might of mattered and went along with Mulcair and praised and supported his leadership and the party's campaign until it catastrophically failed, and so on and so forth.

Having said all that, this is a triumph of what is left of the NDP grassroots.

Hopefully in its wake will come the real and comprehensive self-criticism, self-examination and internal democratization that needs to happen before the NDP can even to hope to reflect the values and purposes that it was created to and that it claims to.

See also: Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Ten Obvious Reasons Tom Mulcair has got to go -- A Left Chapter review!