The NDP will be in an even deeper struggle than it is right now:
Manly gets it that a program for change must be tangible, must be something the voters see as relevant to their situations and their needs, that such a program can't connect with the voters if it is not unveiled until the last two weeks of an election
Unlike May, and perhaps unlike Singh, Manly gets it that the GPC's future, and the future of the left in Canada, lies in the party embracing class-conscious ecosocialism, in the vision of the Leap Manifesto-that there is no possibility of creating a green and egalitarian future within the existing economic system and within the current budget constraints.
Unlike either Singh or May, Manly gets it that transformative change at home is linked to the way Canada relates to the world, that it requires the adoption of an anti-oppression, and anti-imperialist approach to the rest of the world, as military intervention is both deeply damaging to the climate and to the ability of ordinary people around the world to create just, peaceful and prosperous societies for themselves to inhabit.
Manly understands that a party of change must be a party of inspiration and of vision, that personal charisma and the appearance of "respectability" are not, in and of themselves, of any real value in the question of choosing the leader of a party of change.
Whether Singh stays on as leader or eventually goes, the only chance the NDP will have of avoiding cataclysmic losses, losses even worse than those experienced Monday night-and quite frankly, it's an open question as to whether the NDP can go on if its seat count goes any lower than it did this time-the NDP needs to be aware of what the choice of Manly as the next GPC leader would mean, and to be prepared to make huge changes in policy, strategy and tactics if Manly is chosen.
