Death of a party

The hearty partisans don’t like one another. The ground troops work against each other. The voters believe that the parties are different. But the leadership, i.e. those in the know, does not care.

And the pollsters don’t help either. With Angus raising the question of who would be the most trusted leader, the variable being the type of coalition permitted, only fuels the debate. While it is nice to consider that if an NDPer like Jack Layton was the head of the Liberals he may have a shot at Prime Minister, there is no chance that the Liberals, even united with the NDP, would ever elect an NDPer as their leader. The merger of the centre-left can only mean one thing – the death of the NDP.

The merging of these two parties would be akin to combining the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. Two teams playing the same game with different uniforms who both under shoot the ultimate goal. Combine them into one and you have a powerhouse that could potentially bring the Stanley Cup to Ontario. Kessel paired with Alfredson on the attack, and Gustavasson finally giving both franchises a respected backstopper – How could it fail? Except that it does not guarantee a Stanley Cup run – at least not with anymore certainty than each team has the potential to do on their own. The games would be located in the most populous area, i.e. Toronto, thus leading Ottawa to become the forgotten partner in the team. Moreover, you would risk alienating each franchises base – who love to hate each other. The most likely outcome, Ottawa would be a forgotten partner with only the token game played at Scotiaplace.

Is the hockey analogy that far fetched? The recent history of the Conservative Party suggests that it is not. The brothers in arms of Harper and MacKay bringing together the best of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives. Except that the red Tories were alienated. Respected individuals like Joe Clark were left without a home. And Stockwell Day, who as leader of the Canadian Alliance was so disrespected that it opened the door to the merger, now has more influence in government than MacKay.

Moreover, what values does this government push – pro-military, anti-government, pro-big business, anti-environmental, pro-christian, anti-immigration neo-conservatism that underpinned the Reform/Canadian Alliance party. The only change in that party is its abandonment of populism in favour of the deep pocket donors of the Progressive Conservative establishment. What ever the Progressive Conservatives may have represented at the start of the decade is now dead.

Let’s not forget the important lesson of 2004 when the united Conservatives did not win the election. All those swing riding that had kept the Liberals in power for eleven years did not give the Conservatives a majority. It took the Paul Martin and the Gomery Inquiry to destroy the Liberal government from within – not the united Conservatives. The merger of the Conservative parties assisted in making the Canadian Alliance wing look less extreme and it removed some competition for votes, but it did not bring the Conservatives to power. Month after month of the unveiling of Liberal scandal brought them to power (perhaps mixed with a desire for change after thirteen years of one party rule).

The merger of the NDP and the Liberals would only help the Liberal Party. That and perhaps a select few of the NDP mandarins finally getting a taste of power. As the larger “partner” in the relationship the Liberals would swallow the NDP. The Liberal Party’s raison d’etre is to be Canada’s ruling party. Their principal focus is obtaining power. Uniting with NDP may hasten their return to power, but not guarantee it. They would no longer have to worry about their left flank being exposed in an election, and they can focus on the two party race. However, they have won multi-party races for decades. If they cannot do it now on their own, then there is serious rot in that party.

In recent times there has been a void in the NDP. A party of the left seeking acceptance and power at a time when the pendulum is swinging right. A hard nose belief in government helping people when the message of less government is the accepted wisdom of the day. With acceptance of medicare, EI and other branches of the social welfare net, the party has been relegated to fighting against undermining of those programs instead of pushing new agendas.

But that is not reason enough to role over and die. At its core the NDP holds the belief that given the chance to govern, the party would be fairer and more just en route to creating a better country. As opposition, the party has striven to hold the government, regardless of party, accountable to those who do not have deep pockets, who do no meet with politicians and top government officials, and who do not have access to power.

A merger with the Liberals would not only close the book on NDP history, it would also leave anyone on the front lines of social justice, anyone with a progressive voice, anyone who wants a party to do more than simply me the manager of government without a credible political home.