July 11, 2008
Goodbye Howie, Hello Rumours
Photo by calix.
Ever since Howard Hampton announced his decision to resign as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party last month, there has been much speculation as to who will run as his successor. So far, both Gilles Bisson and Peter Tabuns have announced their intent to vie for the spot, and Michael Prue and Andrea Horwath are expected to throw their fluorescent-orange hats in the ring anytime now.
These contenders are career politicians, lifelong Dippers who are loyal to the party’s cause but offer no sense of revitalization. Odds are we will be getting one of those four people as leader come 2009, but the leftist online community is filled with juicy—albeit highly implausible—rumours of people who could potentially be running…maybe…doubtfully.
After the jump are four of the most ridiculous, why they're so far fetched.
Sarah Polley
Photo by Word Freak.
We have to admit, this would simultaneously be awesome and a terrible shame. Awesome, because it’s Sarah Polley! A shame, because Polley has become Canada’s answer to Sofia Coppola (minus the family connections), and has essentially brought a bright shining spotlight onto the Canadian film scene. Everybody loved Away From Her, and seeing her drop all that to become the leader of ONDP would be a great loss. Maybe if she waited a decade or so and gets some terrible movies under her belt we could accept it.
Adam Giambrone
Photo by Jason Thompson Photography.
This one is a tough call. We wouldn't be surprised if Giambrone's ambitions lie further than municipal government, but at this juncture Giambrone could be a slightly controversial figure to the Canadian left. While many think that he handled the TTC strike quite well (giving him national exposure), going against a union is often a bad idea for any NDP hopeful. Compared to the rest of our list, however, this wouldn’t be entirely out of the question—only unexpected.
David Miller
Photo by Miles Storey.
Wait—what? Are we expected to believe that Miller would drop one of the most coveted positions in Canadian politics to become the leader of ten people? We don’t see him benefiting from that arrangement at all.
George Stroumboulopoulos
Photo of Strombo, looking as surprised as we are, by David Topping.
More of a crusade than a rumour, this netizen effort is pretty much entirely based from this Facebook group (at the time of writing, 83 members, whoo!), but has been noticed by the people over at New Democrats Online and Babble—the forum for the Canadian leftist website Rabble.ca—who don’t seem entirely thrilled with the idea. Since Strombo has never shown any indication of running, or even of being affiliated with the party, they don’t have much to worry about.
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Is that the five point exploding palm technique I see? That's way too lethal for parliament.
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and legislature.
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Cheri DiNovo is still interested, right?
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Nope. She's made it clear she would back Tabuns, I believe.
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Thst's right, DiNovo said that she doesn't think she has the requisite amount of experience to run a provincial party (take THAT Obama). She has pretty said she'll back Tabuns.
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It doesn't matter who takes it over. The NDP is a bottom tier party who has among its supporters overly idealistic borderline communists. Every time I think of the Bob Rae years only one thing comes to mind: Never Again!
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Bob Rae's main point in his conversion to the Liberal Party was that the NDP is hopelessly out of touch and refuses to realize modern social democracies need to engage the private sector, rather than shun or villify it.
Leadership of a party with such retrogressive ideals seems like a good way to stall a political career. I can't remember the last time I heard Howard Hampton say anything of relevance, but if he did, how many would notice, much less care?
Then again, with the retirement of Buzz and this seat opening, this could be an opportunity for someone to come in and steal the spotlight, help bring the NDP into the 21st century.
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While I generally support the NDP, even I can't see them as anything other than an opposition party and, as far as recent memory goes, not a terribly good one at that. Have they even been on the radar since the last election? None of those hopefuls look like they'd provide the kick in the ass the party needs to reverse its steady descent into irrelevancy.
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Adam Giambrone: are teenagers allowed to run for office?
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Ooh, the NDP should merge with the Libertarian Party. They'd get zero votes, but at least they'd make the news.
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Lands Down: Hampton will be retaining his seat until the next election, he just won't be serving as leader.
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Polley has become Canada’s answer to Sofia Coppola
Other than the fact that Polley can actually act and direct, yeah, she's *just* like Sofia Coppola.
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@rocketeer: If the NDP are horrible as an opposition, why do you "generally support" them? If an organization is bad and unwilling to change, time to move on. Why not give the Green Party a look?
@Lands Down: Then again, with the retirement of Buzz and this seat opening, this could be an opportunity for someone to come in and steal the spotlight, help bring the NDP into the 21st century.
I'm not sure what the retirement of Buzz has to do with this. The CAW are replacing Buzz with a replica of Buzz. Ken Lewenza, a former automotive worker, is going to lead a union that has more non-automotive workers than automotive workers. So much for the CAW moving forward into the 21st century.
No, the end of the NDP is near. And I couldn't be happier.
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By generally support them, I mean my views are often aligned with theirs at least in principle if not in plan of action. By my second comment I mean I don't see them ever winning an election or even coming in second. And you're quite right, I did give the Green Party a look (and my vote in the last federal election). I would've mentioned them, but I didn't want to take away from what little media coverage Howard Hampton gets.
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Why not give the Green Party a look?
If you generally support the NDP, then you are probably progressive. And if you are progressive, then the Green Party (at least Canada's version of it) isn't a good fit because, despite its best efforts to portray itself otherwise, it's not that progressive.
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Unlike the NDP, the Green Party doesn't pollute itself with too much socialism. Voting for the NDP is like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet and loading every reactionary (and often conflicting) cause you can fit on the plate.
Anyway, how quaint. I imagine the NDP to be a bunch of old hippy busybodies that have sing alongs to Phil Ochs records, remembering the "good old days" when communist countries were exterminating their own populations in order to fight the western imperialists. But I suppose it makes them feel better about themselves than playing bingo.
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Why not give the Green Party a look?
Because they're just as loony as the NDP!
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I'm laughing at McKingford's assessment that the NDP is a progressive party. By progressive, do you mean policies that actually hurt the people they are supposed to help?