Roughly one hundred people from across Canada spent theirweekend in the west block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawaparticipating in the first national conference of the NewPolitics Initiative. Participants discussed ways to engageCanadians in the process of creating a new kind of participatorypolitics.

British author Hillary Wainwright — editor of Red Pepper — spoke on Friday about the concept of “New Politics.” According to Wainwright, we cannot rely on politicians to fulfill our wishes. Parliament has an important role, but not the primary role in social change, she argued.

The NPI Web site puts it another way: “Politics is too important to be left onlyto politicians.”

Defining what the NPI is and should be was a goal of the conference. And it required the group to resolve some of the differences and divides within. By consensus, the attendees concluded that the New Politics Initiative was a network of individualscommitted to building a new kind of party that is rooted insocial movements and committed to participatory democracy. Among the goals set were commitments to make further connections with people, through consultations, social forums and popular education.

The NPI was launched over a year ago with the ambition to createa new kind of political party that would represent the energyemerging on the streets seen at mass demonstrations againstglobal capitalism. The founding group (including high-profilespokespeople like Libby Davies, Svend Robinson andJudy Rebick) suggested that the New Democratic Party (NDP) shouldlead the process of creating this new party.

Soon after its inception, the NPI introduced a Web site and an e-mail discussionlist as a way to get involved. As the electronic forum grew, itbecame clear that chapters in urban areas should be formed sothat supporters could meet in person. These local chaptersstarted meeting regularly across Canada and have attracted manydifferent types of people including NDP supporters, Green Partysupporters, Canadian Action Party supporters, as well asnon-partisan socialists, environmentalists, anarchists, monetaryreformists and more.

The NPI presented its vision at the NDP convention last November, but delegates voted 684 to 401 to reject it, with the opposition arguing that the NDP had its own renewal process already underway. The vote was considered the end of the NPI by many and, though it has remained active, since then, it has been widely ignored by mainstream media.

NPI supporters have mixed feelings about the NDP. Participants ofthis weekend’s conference concluded that the NPI should continueto discuss its relationship with the party. It was also suggestedthat the NPI work in more local areas, such as municipalpolitics, to ensure that new politics truly happens from thebottom-up rather than the top-down. Also recognized was the needto develop deeper connections with like-minded groups in Quebec and with First Nationscommunities, and other groups often marginalized on the left.

The successful brainstorming during the conference was assistedby professional facilitators experienced in participatorydemocracy and consensus decision making. Beyond being productive,participants told me they felt the conference was refreshing, energizing andinspiring. The large and diverse group managed to avoid deadlocksand disasters — a new politics indeed.