Here's Mr. Broadbent: "One of the things that's irked me about this silly talk about changing the name of the party is we're not a democratic party, we're a social democratic party, the core value of which is equality."He said the issue has become "deeply important" to all north Atlantic democracies. He noted that European Union finance ministers, with the exception of Britain's, have agree to report on growing inequality at their next meeting.
"I don't think it's there yet in Canada, but I think it should be. And if there's one party that ought to be talking about it, it's us."
"Equality Party" far superior to "Democratic Party"
Sat, 2009-08-15 05:19
#1
"Equality Party" far superior to "Democratic Party"
Sat, 2009-08-15 05:47
#2
Why in the world would a Canadian political party want the same name as an American one? Just because of Obama? That'd be short-sighted, glaucomic, and cataractical. To confuse voters (and there are plenty who will get confused) making them think there is some link between the American and Canadian Democratic parties? The media would need to be more careful, having to add 'Canadian' or 'American' more often to qualify 'Democratic Party.'
It would be a ludicrous move. At times the former NDP would need to waste energy distinguishing themselves from the American party. I'm thinking about the minds of average voters out there, not the political junkies and policy wonks on this board, or at the convention in Halifax. Or has continental integration come this far?
What happens in the future when the Democratic Party (sorry, I mean the American Democratic Party) does something stupid and, in the minds of the less-alert or politically naive youth voters (this is not an insignificant number), this rubs off on the Democratic Party? If a Democrat administration one day decides to attack Iran, would the Democrats speak up boldy against it? ("the Democratic party strongly disagrees with the decision of the Democratic administration"). Their policies and pedigrees are different, after all. Aren't they? Weren't they?
Maybe worse, if the Democratic Party agrees with the Democratic Party, it will appear like there is a link after all.
Sat, 2009-08-15 06:10
#3
On the other hand, if the Harpocons want to change their name to "Republican Party," I would laud them for being honest.
A "Democratic" Party in Canada wouldn't strike a chord for me. Other than the confusion with the US party, most voters in Canada think they already live in a democracy, so their question would be, like, what does the party want to change? How about Deep Democratic Party, or True Democracy Party, or Participatory Democratic Party as new names? Not quite on the mark?
In my mind the label "Democratic Party" has long been tarnished by American Democrats who are not all that progressive. American Democrats are pretty much like Liberals.
I'm not a hard-core NDP supporter, but I do appreciate many things the party brings to Canadian politics. Read the Broadbent quote in the OP. If "Social Democratic Party" is to be avoided, what's wrong with "Equality Party"? It would communicate to the public, quickly and simply, what the NDP wants to work for, no?
Sat, 2009-08-15 07:33
#4
If the name of the NDP is going to be changed at all it should not be a completely different name like "Equality". There should be continuity so that there is no doubt that it is the same party.
I suppose the word "new" might not seem to fit when the party has been in its current identity since 1961 but I don't think that the NDP will gain greater support by dropping the "N".
If the party changes its name to "The Democratic Party of Canada" they should make sure that there is no confusion that they are the same party, that they are not the USA Democrats, they should maintain an orange / gold colour on their logo, and most importantly they should explain their policies to Canadians.
It wouldn't make sense for a Canadian right-wing party to call itself "the republicans" because Canada has a monarchy and therefore is not a republic. In a country with a monarchy a republican would be someone who wants to abolish the monarchy.
Sat, 2009-08-15 08:05
#5
Maysie
There are a gajillion threads out there already on the NDP convention this weekend. I'm closing this one.