Questions for Nathan Cullen, NDP leadership candidate

21 posts / 0 new

Tue, 2011-10-11 17:56

MegB

This thread is for questions specific to Nathan Cullen's leadership campaign and all that the success of which would entail. Over the next few weeks and months, we will invite each NDP leadership candidate to answer your questions in a moderated discussion.

Please confine your contributions to the leadership candidate threads to questions directed at the individual candidate named in the thread title. Discussions and comments can be posted in any of the several other federal NDP threads.

Issues Pages:

NDP

Wed, 2011-10-12 15:39

peterjcassidy peterjcassidy's picture

[quote=peterjcassidy]

There is a sense amongst NDP activists in Hamilton that, instead of rushing in to pick and back our individual choices for leader, we should work together to celebrate Jacks life and legacy and "Build the party" show it is "Ready to govern". One way we want to do that is to hold a highly successful leadership candiates debate in Hamilton. with outreach to thousands of people and media coverge that reaches hundeds of thousands. We've done such before and are confident we can do it again. Are you willing to work with us, the local activists, the party centre and the other leadership campaigns in this work? More broadly, are you wiling to work. during this leadership race and beyond, with local activists, the party centre and the other leadership campaigns to "Build the party" and show we are "Ready to govern"? and how do you see us accompishing these joyous tasks?

"My Friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." - Jack Layton (1950-2011)

The struggle continues. R.I. P. Jack

Thu, 2011-10-13 14:17

StuartACParker

As I asked Brian Topp who has publicly defended this policy here on rabble:

Will you maintain the policy of empowering head office staff to blacklist (i.e. prohibit from seeking a federal nomination anywhere in Canada) members in good standing for simply expressing dissatisfaction or disagreement with the party? If so, do you plan to create an appeal process or will the unelected staff continue to retain total authority to blacklist party members at will and without accountability or review?

Thu, 2011-10-13 14:30

StuartACParker

Currently, the NDP has been successful in winning and holding rural ridings like yours: northerly, wet, forested, based around mill towns and dependent on the forest and fishing sectors but has not enjoyed the same kind of success in other rural ridings, particularly those based around farming, ranching and petroleum that are drier and located in the southern part of the country. As an MP who has worked on rural issues generally, how would you go about making the party more appealing in the rural areas where it currently lacks representation?

Thu, 2011-10-13 15:14

Unionist

1. Do you recognize Québec's right to secede from Canada based solely on a 50% + 1 vote on a referendum question determined by the Assemblée Nationale?

2. Do you support the amendment of the Canada Labour Code to incorporate the same anti-scab provisions as the Québec code?

3. Do you support the application of Bill 101 to enterprises under federal jurisdiction in Québec?

Thu, 2011-10-13 19:35

Tommy_Paine

My Question for Nathan Cullen:

One of the slogans coming out of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is "Separation of Corporation and State." First, do you "believe" in the 'separation of corporation and sate", and if so, what would you see as the most important first legislative step to accomplish that end?

Thu, 2011-10-13 19:51

dacckon

How can we retake rural ridings that we once held in the past like in Saskatchewan? Also this list of questions

Thu, 2011-10-13 20:33

Unionist

dacckon wrote:

How can we retake rural ridings that we once held in the past like in Saskatchewan? Also this list of questions

Along those lines - where do you stand on the long-gun registry and the need for other gun control measures?

Fri, 2011-10-14 16:13

algomafalcon

1) Should representation in the House of Commons reflect the principle of “one person, one vote” as embodied by representation by population? (Currently 7 provinces are over-represented, and 3 are under-represented)

2) Some M.P.s and federal parties have suggested that the current representation formula for the House of Commons should be changed to ensure that Quebec receives representation by population. Will this unify Canada by making us more equal or will this further marginalize the lower status of Canadians living in Ontario, BC and Alberta who continue to be under represented in the House of Commons and the Senate?

3) Given that BC, Alberta and Ontario are all dramatically under-represented in the Senate, is there any action that opposition M.P.s can take to stand up for the rights of people living in those provinces for fair representation in the Senate before the chamber is filled by “elected” senators?

Wed, 2011-10-19 00:11

#10

Aristotleded24

Mr. Cullen, you proposed that in the next federal election the NDP and Liberals hold joint nomination meetings in incumbent Conservative ridings to defeat Conservative MPs. Yet when you ran for your seat in 2004, you defeated a Conservative incumbent on your own, even though the Liberals ran a candidate as well. Furthermore, this talk about uniting the "anti-Conservative vote" neglects the fact that people make deliberate choices to support Conservative candidates. What message do you think the NDP can take to Conservative supporters or voters that would persuade them to vote NDP in 2015?

Wed, 2011-10-19 02:30

#11

Gaian

A personal note: I have long admired your intelligence and fairness, and hoped that you would appear. And you have not been put forward by the folks at the centre.

Question: Would you lay out your perspective on Canada's economic future in the face of the overarching contradictory needs...growth to sustain employment and the demands of global investment in a globalized world, and a sustainable economy in the face of climate change. What structural changes are needed, and in what order.

Wed, 2011-10-19 06:31

#12

NDPP

Do you still believe in light of the results, that your vote yes for the use of 'R2P' NATO force in Libya was the right one? Are you aware that serious allegations of warcrimes have been made?

ps: please advise your associates in that evil Ottawa talkshop to read up on the more than 25 Libya threads, so they will have some kind of clear picture of what is REALLY occurring and the joint criminal enterprise Canada is heavily involved in there...

Wed, 2011-10-19 15:29

#13

Howard

Do you believe RCMP needs reform? If so, what would you propose?

If it doesn't need reform, do you support the idea of BC having a separate provincial police force (from the RCMP)? What about for other provinces?

Wed, 2011-10-19 15:51

#14

StuartACParker

Can you detail what kind of process you would use for "progressive primaries" in 2015? Or, failing that, what process you would use to figure out the process?

Sun, 2011-10-23 19:04

#15

jerrym

I want to address the issue of income and tie it to homelessness because I rarely see it addressed from the perspective that I think is becoming fairly common. My father lived through the Depression and then fought in WWII. As a result of this he never had a regular job until he was 31. Despite this and despite never earning even the average salary at any time in his life, he owned and sold three houses as he moved from job to job in different cities. I was able to buy a house in Vancouver 25 years ago in Vancouver during an economic downturn with an above average income that is now worth more than $750,000. My two university-age children are highly unlikely to ever own their own house in this city even with well-above average incomes because of current housing prices. Already, many thirtyish professionals are leaving the city because they cannot ever own a home and the latest survey of immigrants states that one third of them are paying more than 50% of their income for housing. Of course, the number of homeless is also mushrooming exponentially. We need a major housing program that addresses homelessness, housing for young adults and immigrants, even for ones with above average incomes. This is not impossible. Afterall, my father's generation, at least from the 1950s until the 1970s were able to find either rental or cooperative housing or achieve home ownership in a country that had relatively little homelessness in a much smaller economy. What is your plan to overcome these generational trends?

Tue, 2011-12-06 01:37

#16

Howard

Given that you joined the NDP caucus in supporting the Libya mission, what do you see as the role for the Canadian military, particularly in Canada's foreign affairs?

Sat, 2011-12-31 00:44

#17

theleftyinvestor

I just thought I'd post this here - an excerpt I filmed when Cullen was in Vancouver earlier this month:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09GkLqSR6Gw

Sat, 2011-12-31 15:25

#18

Brian Glennie

Awesome. Thanks, theleftyinvestor. I really enjoyed the couple of times I got to see Nathan speak in person. He's a very engaging performer.

Sat, 2011-12-31 18:52

#19

theleftyinvestor

Brian Glennie wrote:

Awesome. Thanks, theleftyinvestor. I really enjoyed the couple of times I got to see Nathan speak in person. He's a very engaging performer.

Engaging is definitely the word. "We're going to make this choice tough on you. We're going to make it hard to decide who can take on this prime minister."

He's definitely got a great future ahead of him. He has the power to make people listen and think about what he has to say - and there are too many people in this world already who use that power for sinister purposes. Even if you don't agree with a few of his ideas, he's still fighting the good fight.

Sat, 2011-12-31 19:09

#20

Brian Glennie

I looked up Nathan's Wikipedia page today and found this about his first run in 2004:

"The election was seen as a tight three-way race between Burton, Richardson, and Cullen. Cullen made support of the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling part of his campaign which was initially viewed as a disadvantage for him in the riding, but a magnitude 6.7 earthquake off the Queen Charlotte Islands during the campaign helped highlight Cullen's arguments. Cullen went on to defeat the Conservative incumbent Burton by a margin of 1,272 votes. "

Sat, 2011-12-31 19:24

#21

Boom Boom

I've seen Cullen on P&P several times, and in Question Period - he has always impressed me with his enthusiasm and sincerity.