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The policy says that the riding association has to do a thorough candidate search, and demonstrate that it has approached candidates from underrepresented groups as part of the process. Then, any interested candidates must submit to a vetting by federal office, and once approved as candidates may run for the nomination. Federal Office decides when the candidate search has been thorough enough, and taking that and other factors into account, then clears a nomination meeting for takeoff.
Correct
The BC NDP had a much bigger gender imbalance to correct than the federal NDP does. I think that prior to the 2009 election the BC NDP caucus was only about 25% female so they had to take more action. The federal NDP caucus is now 40% female and while that is not quite 50% its getting close enough that its hard to argue that the next NDP candidate in T-D asbolutely has to be a woman.
Although given Smitherman isn't too popular in federal Liberal circles, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Provincially, I would pay good money to see Tabuns wipe the floor with him.
I'd like to see Sarah Polley or David Miller run in Toronto-Danforth
Yes the BC NDP went down from 100% of the caucus being women in 2005. The rule has not produced any better results for electing women. In Burnaby we ran three women and an incumbent man. One of the four seats was designated under the rules. The incumbent and one of the women won but not the one from the woman only nomination process. Kathy Corrigan won because of her political profile from being a strong School Board Chair. The designated riding didn't even have a nomination battle and the woman nominated was a weak candidate who lost to a beatable candidate. It has not performed well as a method of achieving gender equity.
I think the BCNDP women/minorities policy is for seats vacated by incumbents who do not seek re-election. So technically that excludes seats vacated by the member passing away.
Regarding Stephen Lewis - speaking as a 29-year-old, I was watching the funeral in public on the big screens. The crowd was very mixed but skewed towards the young. They broke out in cheers several times during his eulogy. He may not be a young man, but he has words and energy that can get young people fired up. I refer back to my prior example - Ed Broadbent 2004. He brought a lot of energy back into that riding's NDP vote, including a considerable number of young folks.
You know, as a total aside from the tone of this thread, I am intrigued about Amanda Lang's future political prospects, and find it a wonder that I haven't seen her mentioned in such a light--after all, she'd definitely be a MSM wet dream (perhaps literally, when it comes to the hetero male reps thereof). Amanda Lang as next Liberal leader? Cynically speaking (or not). maybe the Grits need their own "Brian Topp" out-of-the-blue character.
Of course, in Toronto-Danforth, it'd more likely be a "practice" suicide run on her part. But hey; why not--unless she does a shellshocking "Scott Brown", of course.
Layton running in Danforth also made a positive impression with me as well. It was also a gutsy move at that time - NDP did not have a single Toronto seat. I thought Layton was crazy to run in Toronto. How time has changed.
If Amanda Lang were to make the move to politics, it would instantly end her career with the CBC, so she'd want to know it was for real.
Also, I've watched her on panels with labour economists, and all I can say is that I was shocked she did not understand the basics of how the OAS/GIS and CPP system work, but coped with that by making sneeringly dismissive comments about socialists.
She knows her markets, but has zero feel for how anybody but the wealthy lives, and I actually saw her advocate market strategies today that take advantage of those rubes the "retail investors".
She's smart and pretty, but would have a hard time running anywhere outside of St. Paul's, I think.
Its not as if Layton had any choice. Where else but Toronto could he have run??? The NDP only had 13 seats when he became leader - are you suggesting he could have taken the "easy way out" and demanded that Yvon Godin step aside so Jack could run in rural New Brunswick?? Jack's whole leadership campaign revolved around his ability to re-establish the NDP in major urban centres like Toronto...his leadership would have crashed on ther launch pad if he had then turned around and said he would move to Winnipeg and boot Judy W-L out of her seat. Here was a man who had sat on Toronto city council for almost 20 years and was a household name - why would he have wanted to be NDP leader at all unless he believed he could win a seat in Toronto.
In fact, had Gerard Kennedy tried something similar: going and running somewhere out west after selling himself as the "western candidate" in that leadership race, he would have earned a lot more credibility.
And maybe, just maybe, in this hypothetical scenario G. Kennedy would still be an MP alongside Kevin Lamoureux and Ralph Goodale
Toronto Danforth had a history of being a solid NDP seat and was one of first seats one would expect a recovered NDP to regain
On the other hand, the NDP had never managed to even come in second in Halifax federally prior to Alexa.
I would like El Farouk Khaki.
A bi-election before the leadership race would be both ideal and risky. It would show that whoever runs plans to be part of the team and isn't just there for the top job.
Topp would be along the lines of
One other "gutsy" thing about Jack in Toronto-Danforth: he was up against the aggressive Liberal machine of Dennis Mills--indeed, Mills proving to be no mere pushover *may*, according to some reports, have led NDP central to slack off on Olivia in order to save Jack...
Amanda Lang would be a great Liberal leader. It would make the party quite useful as a boutique party for affluent professionals that agree with neoliberal economics but don't like Harper, while ceding the progressive vote to the NDP.
It is funny how on the Lang and O'Leary report the CBC disclaims neoliberal blowhard Kevin O'Leary's views as not being representative of the CBC, wheras big bank and index fund shill Amanda Lang is allowed to say things like "Why not invest in the Royal Bank?" with impunity.
I used to always describe the Greens as "Tories with composters". My description of Liberal Party supporters is "Tories who air kiss their gay hairdressers"
The 'right' are hyperindividualistic multimillionaires like Kevin O'Leary and their bootlickers and the 'left' are the Bay St. Establishment saying "Thank God you are not OUR boss". Thus is the new left-right paradigm on the CBC. Oh did you see this wonderful piece of Oil Sands apologetics on CBC? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/09/01/daryl-hannah-oil-... Notice how it is labelled "ANALYSIS" so it comes across like 'NEUTRAL" CBC reporting. Canadian Broadcorping Castration indeed.
Long thread. Please continue here.