NDP Brings White Fest to Halifax

Where are the purple people and the green with yellow polka dotted people? Maybe there needs to be a quota system where by the keynote speakers need to be 50/50 male to female and of the speakers from each gender - there must be a white, a black an Asian and a first nation - and each of those people should be from a different province (don't forget that we need regional representation) - oh and i guess we also need a quota of keynote speakers who are under 30 and a quota who are francophone and a quota who are disabled and a quoata who are LGBTTQ - did I mention that there are only seven keynote speakers?

so are about 90% of all Canadians - so what's your point?

There will be dozens of people giving presentations and speeches at the convention and i expect that they will be of all colours - but the ONLY criteria for choosing "keynote speakers" should be that they be the best and most inspiring and interesting people to speak before an audience of NDP activists (this won't exactly be getting gavel to gavel coverage on CNN) - how much melanin they have in their skin is of no interest to me.

Stockholm wrote:

so are about 90% of all Canadians

I don't think 90% of Canadians are white.  We have a larger minority population than that as far as I know.

Boy you guys.  Please send me a notice about the next large-scale undertaking any of you organize, so I can pull it apart and find everything wrong with it too.

That said, I will be surprised if some attention is not paid to the Black Nova Scotian community, and the Miqma'q and Malaseet nations and the Acadian fact of Nova Scotia.  Sheesh folks there's still a month to go yet...

Stockholm wrote:

so are about 90% of all Canadians - so what's your point?

You are out to supper having clearly been out to lunch.

Visible minorities in Canada represented 13% in 2001. By 2006 they were 16.2% of the population and are expected to cross 20% shortly if they have not already.

Your comment was as stupidly offensive as it was stupidly partisan. If you had been a new poster people would have assumed you were just a troll to make the NDP look bad. As an NDP member I am ashamed of you.

The criticism is perfectly legitimate. We have a long way to go in this country towards bringing down barriers and this oversight is a sad reflection of a lack of awareness.

I work for a national organization and our convention was full of diversity (particularly i the speakers) and those who were of visible minorites were in many cases the best there. Frankly someone should be sent for diversity training. There is a book of short stories called What If? on diversity by Steve Robbins. He is amazing-- saw him in person. I recomend the book.

Stockholm--- please, please, please get this book and read it with an open mind and come back and share your thoughts. It would do you some good-- it is also entertaining so you will enjoy it as well.

Yes a month to go-- hopefully someone will make sure that the convention is more representative by then and that is not the audience-- the NDP is likely more diverse than the general population-- having a diverse audience listen to a bunch of white men is not appropriate--

Hopefully, Layton, who is, I think, quite committed to diversity will take a look at this. I have heard his wife speak on this issue before-- if this is not fixed, it will be conversation at one dinner table at least.

To address the OP, two of the people are NDP Premiers.  Two are former leaders.  One is the president of the CLC, which is an integral part of the NDP.  Two are at the head of different initatives.  One is the guest speaker.

I'm trying not to make excuses.  I don't know what goes into picking guest speakers.  You probably start with a long list of very desirable people, and they you find out who's available and wants to do it.  I don't know who they had on their list.  Presumably they're people that were going along withe a theme already in place.  Part of the problem is that it was white people who got into positions of power before the list was drawn up.  I mean, who would you take off that list, and who would you put in their place, presuming they want to do it in the first place?  

I think this is fair comment.

While underrepresentation is not just an NDP problem, it is an NDP problem and one that we have to work on.

That said, obviously the two NDP premiers (including the host) are going to be invited to speak, and they happen to be white and male. And, it'd be hard not to include a revered figure like Ed Broadbent. But why not at least feature one or more of the NDP Provincial Leaders who is female (there are three)? Why not feature Gordon Earle, a past and future MP?

As OO says, there is still a month to work on the program.

If you don't want to not have someone you think you need to hear from then add another slot. The problem is those who think that diversity is not as important as the other list of people. Since you mention the CLC- take a look at their conventions-- they make sure there is diversity at their conventions.

Quote:

You are telling me they can't find an Aboriginal leader worth hearing from????????? You are kidding right? This is a priority for the NDP on issues of public health and poverty. This is getting worse by the minute.

I'm sure they'd be thrilled to get Phil Fontaine, for example. Maybe he was invited and declined. I don't know. David Suzuki could be great but maybe tehy couldn't get him. Who else should be there? And who of the existing speakers should they replace? A sitting Premier? A party icon like Broadbent?

Stockholm wrote:

Phil Fontaine is apparently a Liberal. If you have any other names, why don't you call the NDP and recommend someone who is ready, willing and available. From what I recall from the convention in Quebec City, there were additions to the list of keynote speakers right up to the day before the convention so there is still a month to go.

Roberta Jamieson

Pat Dieter

Linda Otway

All three could be great speakers--

All three are experts on women in aboriginal politics-- barriers to women in politics, first nations challenges-- they would be worth the flight ticket-- and I don't care that none of them is AFN leader--

Stockholm wrote:

Where are the purple people and the green with yellow polka dotted people?... did I mention that there are only seven keynote speakers?

Stockholm wrote:

I'm not sure how many ways you can slice and dice seven people

You know, I think Stock has a point here.  When you're picking eight people (there's eight on that website), sometimes you can't have everyone represented no matter how hard you try.  But they tried and they did a good job representing diverse people.  They have a white American, white banker, white hockey player, white union official, white guy named Ed, white premier, other white premier, and white Nova Scotian.  Now that's diversity!

Note the heavy sarcasm, if it isn't apparent.

George Hickes-- first Inuk speaker of the Manitoba legislature-- still in that role

Lorraine Michael-- first Arab woman leader of a party in Canada-- leader of NDP in NL

Conrad Santos

Leonard Preyra-- relected NDP member NS

It is not hard to do this...

Again, they will be in Miqma'q territory ... and I'm sure a Miqma'q elder has already been approached as would be traditional and respectful.  What wouldn't be smart is inviting a Mohawk or someone from somewhere else and NOT inviting someone from the local Miqma'q community.

Really, people just can't wait to pull things out of the air to criticize the party for, when it would have been more constructive (not easier of course, as it would take some effort, and starting a thread on Babble to complain is much less work) to just pick up the phone and call someone in federal office and make an inquiry and perhaps a suggestion or two.

It's the passive-aggressive complaining by non-doers that engenders the irritated responses.

Sean in Ottawa wrote:

George Hickes-- first Inuk speaker of the Manitoba legislature-- still in that role

Lorraine Michael-- first Arab woman leader of a party in Canada-- leader of NDP in NL

Conrad Santos

Leonard Preyra-- relected NDP member NS

It is not hard to do this...

One of the "keynote speakers" is actually described as an "Atlantic Canada Showcase including Alexa MacDonough" - it may well be that this segment will include such people as Percy Paris, Lorraine Michael and Leonard Preyra - so let's wait and see, the speakers list is far from complete

ottawaobserver wrote:

Again, they will be in Miqma'q territory ... and I'm sure a Miqma'q elder has already been approached as would be traditional and respectful.  What wouldn't be smart is inviting a Mohawk or someone from somewhere else and NOT inviting someone from the local Miqma'q community.

Yeah, can't have two indigenous speakers.  That would be like having two white speakers!

Better to be raising this now when the convention is still a month away than to be making a stink at the convention itself.

and btw: I find the title of this thread pretty offensive. There are perfectly legitimate points to be made about how the list of speakers at the convention should be more diverse - but referring to the NDP as bringing a "white fest" to Halifax makes it sound like this was some sort of calculated salute to white supremacy out of Pretoria circa 1950!

genstrike wrote:

ottawaobserver wrote:

Again, they will be in Miqma'q territory ... and I'm sure a Miqma'q elder has already been approached as would be traditional and respectful.  What wouldn't be smart is inviting a Mohawk or someone from somewhere else and NOT inviting someone from the local Miqma'q community.

Yeah, can't have two indigenous speakers.  That would be like having two white speakers!

For the love of mike, that's not what I said at all and please don't put words into my mouth.  There were no Miqma'q names on Sean in Ottawa's list, but a lot of Ontario names.  As I said, it would be considered rude if in Miqma'q territory not to thank the elders for welcoming you there, but meanwhile to invite someone else to address you.

I take it you just want to be generally argumentative rather than having any particular knowledge about these things, or look for the most charitable explanation for what someone is saying.

I'm amused by the idea that ethnic diversity is something you can cobble together every two years for ceremonial occasions by making a few phone calls to non-whites who have no real connection to the party (like Fontaine, Suzuki, Jamieson). That's the way the Liberals and Tories operate, of course.

The real problem with diversity for the NDP is that it does not have strong alliances with the struggles of minorities, and its leadership layers at the provincial and federal level are overwhelmingly white. Naturally, if you are going to  have keynote speakers who are drawn from the likes of premiers and ex-premiers you are going to be reflecting the lack of diversity that [b]actually exists[/b] in the party. 

I can't decide whether it's better to have speakers that reflect the pathetic reality of the party, or to try to put lipstick on the pig and put on a show for the non-whites, US-style.

Maybe Obama's crack election strategists could give the NDP some tips in that regard?

So Spector, how good a job have organizations you are involved with done with diversity?

And point of information, in the case of the NDP having more diverse keynote speakers would not be a case of "something you can cobble together every two years for ceremonial occasions by making a few phone calls to non-whites who have no real connection to the party."

Rather it would be a case of the keynote speakers being representative of the diversity that does exist in the NDP- which itself needs a lot of improvement, but is not non-existant.

The point you make in your opening post is more relevant than you, like Spector, wanting a totally different NDP than the one that exists.

And by the way, if the NDP was "less cliquish"... if it was more open, chances are by far the greatest that it would be MORE likley to be 'cautious' arond Gaza and other popular struggles.

Unless of course it is to bring in different cliques. That would do the trick.

Hey, Corvin, I think we hit a nerve.