TODAY: Brian Topp answers your questions on his candidacy for NDP Leader

Hi everyone! We are very close to starting up our next NDP Leadership Q&A with candidate Brian Topp. Let me be the first to welcome Brian to babble (although as our regulars know, Brian is already quite familiar with our place here).

Welcome Brian!

Nice to be here once again.

Hi Brian - let's rock 'n' roll! Welcome.

The issue you are raising here is whether or not Quebecers should retain a 25% share of the House of Commons, or should we be strictly “represented by population” (which would take the province to about 23%). The last time I tuned in this discussion, Parliament was discussing a proposal to set the number at about 24% -- what you might call a typically Canadian compromise that all Canadians could perhaps grumpily live with, given we are talking about very small variances in seats. I think the truly pressing Parliamentary issues lie elsewhere – in the existence of an unelected and unrepresentative but powerful Senate; in the perversities of our electoral system; and in the attack on responsible government we witnessed in 2008. I support Senate abolition. The conditions for this might be found in a showdown between a new NDP government and the Senate should it try to frustrate the will of the House (those were the conditions that led to the abolition of all of Canada’s unelected second chambers in provincial legislatures long ago). I favour a mixed proportional house, blending the current House with a tier of MPs elected by proportional representation somewhat on the German model. A clear commitment on this issue – that if an NDP government is elected in 2015, the people of Canada will be voting on a mixed proportional system in 2019 – might be a compelling way to “unite the left” by persuading progressive-minded Greens and Liberals as well as New Democrats to vote NDP next election. And I favour enacting a Parliament Act in the first sitting of Parliament after we have rid Canada of the Tory government, for the purpose of forbidding a Prime Minister from ever advising the Governor-general to prorogue the house when a confidence vote is before it.

Mr. Topp?  What is your definition of democracy in Canada?  Is it concerned with the rights of corporations or the rights of individual persons?

Democratic rights are about the rights of citizens -- and citizens are people, not corporations. Mitt Romney's line that "corporations are people too" was one of the more surreal moments of recent American politics.

I'm open to debate about a referendum but my preference would be that the election is the referendum.

Thanks Brian for your detailed response. We have a related follow-up question from babbler Wilf Day:

And the question was: how will you go about this?

If you weren't able to abolish the Senate, would agree to a compromise whereby it becomes an elected body instead?

Catchfire: I am the head of a union, and am running for leader having been endorsed (so far) by the United Steelworkers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) – two of our party’s most committed trade union affiliates. Our party’s partnership with the trade union movement is literally a foundational one – as is true of every other social democratic/democratic socialist party in the world contending seriously for office in the democratic world. I support working closely with the house of labour (and the rest of our movement) to take the initiative back from the Harper conservatives and to start setting the political agenda in Canada -- on issues like repairing the damage liberals and tories have done to the public finance; climate change; and economic and social equality. I support working equally closely together on our policy offer as we approach the next election. And I would like us to develop an outreach program tailored to each labour affiliate with the goal of substantially building party membership, and promoting NDP voting by rank-and-file union members. In the 2000 election we earned about 25% of the vote among union households. In recent elections we have more than doubled that vote – providing us with the margin of victory in many ridings. That’s work we need to continue to pursue diligently. We have a special obligation to earn the partnership and support of the labour movement in Quebec, now that we are the principal representatives of that province in the House of Commons.

A reminder to babblers to limit their questions to follow-ups. But Fidel, we'll be addressing that issue a bit later.

[That's intended as a follow-up, given Harper-Raitt's anti-union crusade.]

hi Wilf: To how we do this: Senate abolition requires a constitutional amendment. Perhaps conditions for this will be created by the Senate itself. Electoral reform: Requires a legislative reform. We can debate whether we'd like to make it a core commitment of our platform we will implement if elected (my preference) or refer to a referendum. Prorogation: The message I'd like to send could be written into House's standing orders by act of the House alone, but I'd prefer a bill that the Governor-general signs. Just so we all see it very clearly. It would be "advice" to the GG but, one hopes, worthy of being respected.

Thanks Brian. Here's our third question, about environmental policy: