I've also written about the NDP for the
@broadbent.bsky.social
and the @reviewcanada.bsky.social, and much of what I've had to say seems relevant for now. You can find that work here:
perspectivesjournal.ca/ed-broadbent...
reviewcanada.ca/magazine/202...
If you want more of my thoughts on Avi Lewis and the NDP, you can find them here:
open.substack.com/pub/graemewy...
And the Conservatives can do populist politics far more effectively than the NDP can. Many of the things that right-wing populism targets will be vigorously defended by the NDP.
The Conservative Party presents a different challenge. It has been particularly effective at attracting many of the working-class voters that the NDP has long sought to represent.
These weaknesses made Mark Carney particularly appealing to a lot of voters.
This can be illustrated another way.
The fact that voters don't trust the NDP on major issues is also a significant problem. This played a major role in the party's poor performance last year.
The fact that social democratic parties have abandoned their traditional economic commitments has also had significant electoral consequences.
Avi Lewis wants a Green New Deal for Canada. This will have to contend with China's dominance of the energy transition.
One of the reasons this is happening is that the industrial working class that social democratic parties have long relied on is declining as an electoral force.
This is what has happened to manufacturing employment in Canada since the 1980s.
As a quick summary, the NDP's struggles are part of a broader problem facing social democratic parties across the rich world.
I've written a new piece with a series of charts illustrating the scale of the challenge facing the #NDP. You can read it here:
open.substack.com/pub/graemewy...
