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Convention Saturday March 24 in Toronto. Leadership entry fee $15,000 with a spending limit of $500,000.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ndp-sets-500000-spending-li...
Jesus, I nearly had a heart attack: That's a $15,000 entry fee, and a $500,000 spending limit.
Why a heart attack? That is actually a very low entry fee and a pretty low spending limit for a party that is the official opposition. If you can't raise $15,000, which is a very small amount in politicals terms, you are not a serious candidate.
I think they thought the entry fee was $500,000 on first glance.
I edited my statement to read "The only MP as far as I know that is bi/multilingual in a set of languages that does not include English and French is...". But I should have also mentioned that I was talking about MPs that have been touted as leadership candidates. Peggy Nash speaks Spanish in addition to being fluent in English & French, and Romeo Saganash speaks Cree and Anishinaabemowin, but of course also speaks both English & French as well.
The original reference to the article stated the entry fee was $500,000, and my post was pointing out the typo.
Yes my mistake, hope your heart's ok now meades.
No. The Constitution has been interpreted so that the change in 2006 does not allow it.
It's interesting - I wonder what a OMOV leadership convention will look like when it's not combined with a policy convention? I guess there won't be delegates, just whoever wants to go? It hadn't even crossed my mind that they would split the leadership and policy conventions, but of course we just had a policy convention, so it makes sense.
BC NDP had a Leadership "convention" this year in Vancouver with local gatherings where the proceedings could be watched live. Telephone and internet voting could be done from anywhere either that day or in advance, but some people did it at the local gatherings, and presumably at the central gathering.
I assume that there will be some sort of a evening long tribute to Jack, speeches by the candidates, a lot of socializing and partying and then the announcement of the results!
Apparently Charlie Angus has said he will not run.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/09/09/pol-ndp-federal-council...
Just before the picture of Olivia.
It's a disapointment to hear Charlie Angus won't run - he would have been a worthy candidate, although his French would have been an issue.
The CBC story also mentions that the leadership event will be at Exibition Place in Toronto. Personally, I will be haunting to be in the same room where we elected Jack in 2003... But hopefully the same great energy that we filled it with will return to the room!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSBPs7I6I_I
A progressive who's charismatic and pragmatic.
No big signs he will run through
Edit(part 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbztCy_7voU&feature=related
(part 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFssYGITQhw&feature=related
Could I ask for a bit of crowd-sourcing: to which email addresses can individual candidates be contacted? They must need regional volunteers right?
A somewhat dated run-down on potential candidates in the Quebec media:
Thanks Tom. Nice to see a bunch of oldies on here. Hi Meades and Robbie Dee.
It's unfortunate that Pierre missed out as a candidate in Quebec, and will be likely missing out on this leadership race, but I completely understand his choice in being with his young child. Hopefully there will be more Pierre later on. Political timing is kind to some, and not to others. We know this with Jack too...
At this point it seems like there will be too many candidates to chose from! I suppose that is the problem with a large caucus.
It's a good problem to have.
Not to cheer for Pat Martin, but it's noteworthy how Quebec Liberals -- Justin Trudeau as well as Denis Coderre -- are the ones talking about how much Liberals and New Democrats have in common. They know that the Quebec public wanted the December 2008 coalition to take power, and that formed the background to how they voted on May 2nd. This is why the NDP leadership has been careful not to slam the door on co-operation, without encouraging it: Quebec voters want co-operation to oust Harper, and Quebec Liberals understand this only too well.
http://fr.canoe.ca/infos/quebeccanada/archives/2011/08/20110829-214309.html
Very important point, Wilf. Openness to cooperation of all kinds in order to defeat Harper was one of the NDP's most attractive perceived features - as opposed to Ignatieff, who got trapped into writing off coalition possibilities at the very start of the campaign.
I suspect we're going to be moving off the beauty contest preliminary phase of the race and into some announcements next week, probably timed for before or after the Caucus meeting in Quebec City. Folks are going to have to decide pretty soon.
Well said.
I think an actual merger would be disastrous - why would anyone want to invite their fighting neighbours to move in, especially knowing ahead of time that they would act like they owned the place?
But I I am sure the writing is on the wall for those who see the need for some kind of shift.And there must be common ground for some sort of cooperation short of a merger.
If that is heresy, it is my kind of heresy.
Radio-Canada is pretty definitive: Chisholm does not speak French, Megan Leslie does. http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2011/08/31/002-chisholm-l...
Charlie Angus Statement on the NDP Leadership Race
It has only been a few short weeks since the tragic death of Jack Layton. Jack wasn’t just the leader of our party he was like a member of our family. And as we grieve, we find ourselves thrust into the media glare of a leadership race. It is a race that will have profound consequences for Canada’s political landscape. The next leader will need the vision and political “chops” to carry out Jack’s mission to form a social democratic government in the next election.
The papers have been rife with names of potential leadership candidates. Amidst the growing speculation, people have been calling and e-mailing asking me to run. It is a request that I haven’t taken lightly. In fact, a key group of political organizers – people for whom I have always had the greatest respect -- have come forward to put a team in place.
Nonetheless, after much deliberation, I have decided not to participate in this upcoming race.
The process of choosing a replacement for Jack Layton will come during our first term as official opposition. Canadians are looking to us to continue our work of holding the Stephen Harper government to account. We are facing the most militant and divisive government in Canadian history. They have no intention of giving us time to grieve or rebuild. We will need experienced MPs willing to take the fight to the right wing agenda. This will free up other MPs to participate in the leadership race.
To this end, I have pledged my full support to interim leader Nycole Turmel and her team to play whatever role is needed to support the caucus through this upcoming session of Parliament.
One more thought: the leadership campaign is taking place amidst an unprecedented level of media scrutiny on the New Democratic Party. When a new leader is chosen, they will no doubt be judged by some as not being “Jack” – a mere mortal filling the political giant’s shoes.
Filling Jack’s shoes is certainly a mighty tall order. And yet, Jack would be the first to tell you how much growing he did in order to be able to fill those shoes. The difference between the party that Jack Layton took command of in 2003 and the party that will be handed over in March 2012 is a difference of immense magnitude. Jack spent his years as leader building the foundation for today’s success. He encouraged people to get involved in the party as candidates, activists and staff. It was a faith well-founded. None of us are going to let Jack down.
Jack Layton trusted Canadians. He knew they would choose the politics of hope over the politics of division and smear. The result was the great Orange Crush of April 2011. Canadians sent an even stronger message when they took to the streets in their tens of thousands to bid farewell to Jack.
We all have a job to do. Canadians are looking to us to show unity, determination, practicality and optimism. If we carry on the path that Jack laid out, Canadians will respond by voting in the first social democratic federal government in Canadian history.
This is the house that Jack built.
Thank you for including Charlie Angus's statement on this thread. I am disappointed that he is not running just the same. I would have voted for him.
chisholm is, of course, welcome to run, but i think most people will understand that it would be suicidal for the ndp to elect him - or anyone else not perfectly comfortable in french - as leader.
which touches on the inane debate a few posts back: seriously, who cares that the french requirement is a barrier for the working class to ascending to the leadership of the ndp? that's an insane argument to make at this juncture, when the party is for all intents and purposes the federal representation of quebec. the fact that any leader from this point forward needs excellent to near perfect is obvious - without it, we might as well just hand the keys to stornaway back to the liberals, as the bq WILL take those seats back.
so seriously, let's get real and think this through, rather than picking favorites purely on affinity. when we have people like nathan cullen or robert chisholm and that coming out of the woodwork as potential candidates, it's about their egos and not the good of the party. they could potentially win, but it would not be in the best interests of the movement, party and country. you take a charlie angus and he knows this.
Like working class bilingual MPs like Yvon Godin (learned English as an MP really), Claude Gravelle, Carol Hughes, and who knows how many of Québec NDP MPs. Riiiiiiiight.
Also, a lot of the would-be candidates that would purportedly be excluded by such a requirement don't seem all that "working class" at first glance. Roughly 1/3rd of Canada speaks French. Is it really that much to ask that the Prime Minister speak it too?