I had the pleasure of interviewing former Research & Communications director for the NDP Jamey Heath about his new book Dead Centre
Mr. Heath was great at answering questions succinctly so we were able to cover a lot of ground. Topics included what does "dead centre" mean, what exactly is a "progressive", how many Liberals and Blocquites are progressive? Also covered was the new class frame, working-class versus middle-class or Tories vs. Tommy. Was Pat Martin right about this next election being make or break for the NDP and what is with Elizabeth May?
Comments (4)
Hi Greg.
I enjoyed the interview. Thanks for posting it. Mr. Heath ran to be my MP in Ottawa-Centre many years ago. He was the first politician I ever volunteered for.
He’s a bright guy for sure, but I think some of what he says may be misleading to some listeners. He suggests that he is unaware of what the Liberal Party is offering, but he is a professional political researcher. I know he is being rhetorical, but I would suggest he is probably an expert on stated LPC policies.
I don’t complain, of course. This is to be expected from a partisan, but I fear this will tar his book a little.
As to his theme that Canadian political parties don’t represent a meaningful choice to Canadians, however, I have to agree fully. It’s so much inside baseball and polling and strategy. And he’s right about the progressive vote being divided between too many parties nationally.
I like to think that the LPC is the progressive party of Canada. The just society party, whatnot. I have to admit though that (like all the other federal parties) there is an intolerant conservative element. Trudeau asked “why can’t we be bold?” I still don’t see why not.
Anyhow, keep the good posts coming. I’ll keep listening.
Posted by James Bowie | March 19, 2007 12:21 AM
Posted on March 19, 2007 00:21
The Green Party of Canada is quite interested in proportional representation and has been pushing it for years. Indeed, we never heard much from the NDP publically about it until Jim Harris ran against Layton, and then poof!, Layton was preaching the idea even though it wasn’t in the NDP platform…
Anyway…
If the proportional rep model Ontario may be deciding upon in the next provincial election is suitable (I think it will be a mixed system), the GPC will be working hard with the GPO to push it’s acceptance, on the theory that if Ontario gets PR, Ottawa won’t be able to ignore it.
Elizabeth needs to get into the leaders debate, and then get some Greens in the House before having formal discussions about pushing PR federally. She’ll have no clout otherwise. And, with all this minority government crap going on, and with her being new in town, there’s been little time to arrange such things — though for all I know, she’s been whisper-pushing it.
The main difference between the Greens and the NDP is that Greens are less afraid of using market forces, and yet also ultimately believe in developing a low-growth economic model (some say ‘no-growth’, but they really only mean neutral-growth consumption of material goods, adjusted for population size). I would submit that when push comes to shove, the NDP has demonstrated provincially that they are very willing to perpetuate short-term gains,such as the mass deforestation in BC by the forestry industry.
Posted by Mark Francis | March 19, 2007 12:34 AM
Posted on March 19, 2007 00:34
that was an excellent interview.
Posted by janfromthebruce | March 19, 2007 12:45 AM
Posted on March 19, 2007 00:45
Actually, Mark as an NDP member and having been a delegate at conventions, I do know that pp has been a long term policy of the federal NDP, before Jack Layton. I have been a member since 1997, and it was on the books then.
Posted by janfromthebruce | March 19, 2007 12:47 AM
Posted on March 19, 2007 00:47