Federal NDP candidates for 2019 federal election

So Stockholm do you think that Jews Against Zionism are anti-Semitic? I read her post and frankly it was extremely anti-Israeli and said nothing about Jewish people at all. She compared the current racist regime to one that killed a previous generation of Jewish people so what is exactly anti-Semitic about that. Would it have been alright if they were compared to gulags or Afrikaner concentration camps? It is the racist European settler Israelis that despise Palestinians that are anti-Semitic. Palestinians are Semites as well just in case you don't get that.

I just replied to one of the incessant NDP fundraising e-mails with this angry message:

Quote:

Dear Melissa,

 

I am very angry with your decision to dump Rana Zaman as the NDP Candidate in Dartmouth-Cole Harbour. There are a number of problems with it. There is the issue of free speech. I actually saw the tweet in question. It was extreme, and yes some people will take offense to it. However if you read the comment sections of any public news site, people who advocate a fairer redistribution of taxes are often deemed offensive. Should they be barred from running? There is the issue of honesty and integrity in politics. You talk to the average person who isn't in any political bubble, and one of the things they hate about politicians is that they seem to parrot party lines and not be free to say what is really on their minds. It also makes us afraid to take a stand. People respect politicians who they feel take brave stances and speak the truth, even if they disagree with the substance of what that politician says. If we can't argue our positions with confidence, why should we ask the public to have confidence in us? I agree that there are common things we should agree to as New Democrats, however discussions at the local levels and policy conventions are the proper venues to have those discussions. Take what happened in the last Ontario election. Some NDP candidates there received bad press from comments they had made on social media. Were they dumped? They were not. Instead, the response from the Ontario NDP was that while we all agree on the major policy items in the platform, everyone has different opinions and will express them. The controversies faded away. Indeed, sometimes dumping a candidate for controversial remarks generates more negative press than the comments themselves. Finally, it is disrespectful to the local membership. They decided that Zaman should be the candidate. Will some of them feel disillusioned and not work for the NDP, or worse, work for the NDP's opponents? Take the case of Paul Manley, who wasn't even allowed to run under the NDP banner over things he said. He ended up running for the Greens and actually winning on the second try. Regardless of the fact that Chamberlain was a good candidate, the NDP frankly deserved to lose that riding. That seat could still have been ours if we hadn't chased Manley away.

 

I live in Winnipeg Centre, and will do everything I can to elect Leah Gazan as the next MP for that area. However, as long as the federal party continues to disrespect local constituencies in this manner, it can definitely NOT count on receiving any of what little money I make. I would hope that the NDP would learn from this and find a way to respect the grassroots voices they claim to represent.

bekayne wrote:

laine lowe wrote:

Ken, that last post is amazing. It is exactly how I feel about the whole situation. Why must we always walk on egg shells when it comes to Israeli politics. Does criticizing the Saudi Arabian government equal islamaphobia? I should hope not. The government of Israel does not represent every Jewish person in the world and doesn't necessarily represent all of the opinions of their own constituents. Not everyone in the US believes in Trump's worldview or decisions.

Ditto.

Thanks to you both for that.

Debater wrote:

Stockholm is correct.  I went and looked at the tweet that Frank Magazine dug up and sent to the NDP.Rana Zaman made a tweet that went over the line and compared the Israelis to the Nazis and said they were aiming to beat the Nazi total of 6 million dead and referred to Auschwitz:

Gratuitously using the Holocaust to criticise a country trivializes the deaths of over 6 million people - and it is a country whose citizens hold a wide variety of views that was named, not a regime. That the country is largely populated by those who survived the Holocaust and their descendants makes it worse, but it's wrong to start with.

There is a really big difference between comparing the policies of the current Israeli government to apartheid (which I first thought was the issue) and this.

brookmere wrote:

That the country is largely populated by those who survived the Holocaust and their descendants makes it worse, but it's wrong to start with.

There is a really big difference between comparing the policies of the current Israeli government to apartheid (which I first thought was the issue) and this.

This is part of the Israeli mythology that is relied on to silence its critics. It would seem that about 150,000 of the 9,000,000 are survivors.  Many of the actual survivors have publicly voiced their opposition to this states genocidal policies. What I find really disgusting is murderous genocidal racists, currently using a sophisticated military to terrorize a civilian population, having the chutzpah to appropriate the holocaust survivors story.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/holocaust-survivors...

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Only-26200-Holocaust-survivors-will-be...

kropotkin1951 wrote:

This is part of the Israeli mythology that is relied on to silence its critics.

Claiming that Israel plans to outdo the Nazis and kill over 6 million people isn't criticism, it's hatemongering.

This sort of thing simply provides ammunition to Israeli government supporters who claim that those offerring legitimate criticism of Isreal's actual actions are movtivated by anti-Semitism.

Selected June 22:
Stacey Wakelin — Langley-Aldergrove
Madeleine Sauve — Abbotsford

brookmere wrote:

kropotkin1951 wrote:

This is part of the Israeli mythology that is relied on to silence its critics.

Claiming that Israel plans to outdo the Nazis and kill over 6 million people isn't criticism, it's hatemongering.

This sort of thing simply provides ammunition to Israeli government supporters who claim that those offerring legitimate criticism of Isreal's actual actions are movtivated by anti-Semitism.

There are 13 million Palestinians and over 4 million of them are refugees some of them for more than one generation. If you count direct murders the Israeli's since 2000 have only murdered about ten thousand so no those are not gas chamber numbers. However if you listen to elected Israeli officials some of them talk like NAZI's who want to invoke the final solution. The Gaza Strip is an open air prison with living conditions that are killing people in a genocidal fashion. If the despicable politicians who are responsible for these human rights violations can wrap themselves in the Holocaust then they deserve to be compared to the NAZI's.

brookmere wrote:

You have just demonstrated that the facts are more than adequate for anyone wishing to criticise the Israeli government's policies towards Palestinians.

Resorting to lunatic exaggerations simply gives fair minded people the impression that advocates for the Palestinian cause are motivated by hatred, not fairness, which of course is one of the goals of the Israeli government.

 

I may have misunderstood your comment, but I assume you are addressing Kropotkin1951 and that you are referring to the photos with quotations when you say “resorting to lunatic exaggerations simply gives fair minded people the impression that advocates for the Palestinian cause are motivated by hatred, not fairness, which of course is one of the goals of the Israeli government.” Sadly each of these quotes is real. “beat them up” https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/07/quote-for-the-day... “beasts” https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-deputy-defense-minister-called-palesti... “cut off his head” https://www.salon.com/2016/05/19/israels_new_defense_minister_avigdor_li... “snakes” https://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2014/08/killing-snakes-pa... “Middle Ages” www.digitaljournal.com/article/337132

I think Vancouver Centre will become more competitive after Hedy Fry retires.

She had a narrow win in 2011, but if she didn't lose in the Ignatieff wipeout, I don't think she's in danger in 2019.

There will be lots of interesting races in BC -- it's an important province for all 4 parties -- Libs, Greens, Cons, & NDP.

Nicholas Tabah has withdrawn as the NDP candidate for Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel.  He was the NDP candidate in 2015.  This is the riding held since 1984 by Louis Plamondon, who is 75 now and running once again.  It will be interesting to see what happens here when Louis Plamondon retires.

https://www.soreltracy.com/2019/mai/31m.html

NDPP wrote:

Re: Rana Zaman - Ex NDP Candidate

"In 2018, one of the world's most respected intellectuals, Noam Chomsky (who is Jewish), warned of the rise of 'Judeo-Nazi' tendencies in Israel".

Another attempt to evade the question. Warning about "tendencies" is a very long way from claiming that "Israelis want to outdo the Nazis and kill over 6 million people". As well he isn't a candidate for office so his views can't be attributed to a political party.

So who thinks that it's OK for an NDP candidate to claim that "Israelis want to outdo the Nazis and kill over 6 million people"? Just a "yes" or "no" will do.

There's was nothng anti-Semitic about the post.  Engaging in hyperbole against a political state is not opposition to a religion or an ethnicity.  Even if it wasn't hyperbole, it's not anti-Semitism.  Attacking a political state, any political state, is political.

Good to see it's the same old NDP.

Radio Canada journalist Louis Blouin reports that former PQ health minister Réjean Hébert will run in Longueuil–Saint-Hubert for the Liberals.  It will be interesting to see the race between him and NDP MP Pierre Nantel.

https://twitter.com/ICILouisBlouin/status/1148313169871421440

Last election the Liberals accused the NDP of having closet sovereigntists as candidates and of pandering to them. Now the Liberals are running PQ cabinet ministers XD

swallow wrote:

Surprising that Hebert is not running in his home town, Sherbrooke. 

Sherbrooke elected 26 year old Jean Charest in 1984 and stuck with him for the next 14 years even through the PCs 1993 meltdown. I suspect that it may do the same for Pierre-Luc Dusseault, elected even younger at 19. Particularly also considering that the corresponding provincial riding is held by Quebec Solidaire. I don't know how many seats the NDP will be able to hold in Quebec but Sherbrooke is probably in the top 3 or 4 with Boulerice's Rosemont seat #1 and probably Caron's Rimouski seat and Brossseau's Berthier-Maskinongé the other two. Nantel, otoh, is probably toast and his Longueuil-Saint-Hubert will end up as a Liberal/Bloc fight. Running a former sovereigntist there is a coup for the Liberals.

That makes sense, because the NDP has to start filling these ridings.

There are large areas of the country which are still missing NDP candidates -- particularly in Atlantic Canada, Quebec & Ontario.

I don't think the NDP was this far behind in candidate selection under Mulcar at this time 4 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_candidates_by_riding_for_the_43rd_Canadian_federal_election

ETA: Rudy Turtle, chief of Grassy Narrows, will be running for the NDP in Kenora, as the party pursues disaffected Indigenous voters. 

The chief of a northern Ontario First Nation grappling with mercury contamination is announcing his bid today to run for the NDP in the riding of Kenora in this fall's federal election, citing his growing disappointment with the Liberal government.

For half a century after the former owners of a mill in Dryden dumped 10 tonnes of mercury into the river system, the people of Grassy Narrows have suffered the effects of mercury poisoning. The toxic chemical contaminated the water and fish in the area, located about 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora.

Rudy Turtle, chief of Grassy Narrows, said he believed his community's concerns would finally be dealt with when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government came to power in 2015. But four years later, Turtle still hasn't signed an agreement with Ottawa to deal with long-term health needs of the community, and there is no on-reserve health centre dedicated to deal with the effects of mercury poisoning. ...

Turtle is going up against sitting Liberal MP Robert Nault, who used to serve as minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development from 1999 to 2003 under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

Turtle said he caught the eye of the NDP after speaking at their national convention this spring.

Aside from the mercury problem in Grassy Narrows, Turtle said he wants to advocate for a new water treatment plant in Fort Hope and upgrades in other communities. ...

So far, the NDP has eight Indigenous candidates, including Turtle and incumbent Georgina Jolibois of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.

The party has signed up several other high-profile Indigenous candidates, including:

• Leah Gazan, well-known Indigenous activist, for Winnipeg Centre. 
• Bob Chamberlin, former vice-president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, for Nanaimo-Ladysmith.
• Joan Phillip, Penticton Indian Band councillor, for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola.
• Anna Betty Achneepineskum, former deputy grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, for Thunder Bay-Superior North.
• Kyle Mason, Indigenous community leader and activist, for Winnipeg North.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grassy-narrows-chief-rudy-turtle-ndp-1....

Ken Burch wrote:

Kenora is one of the few ridings at this point where there's a real possibility of an NDP gain.  The NDP vote increased there in the train wreck of the 2015 election(one of the few places that happened for the party outside B.C.) and Nault beat Howard Hampton by less than 2 percentage points.

Yes, but that's because Howard Hampton was a big name, with many years representing Northern Ontario in the Ontario Legislature.

If Nault hadn't had the Trudeau Wave in Ontario to help him, Hampton probably would have won.

But now that Nault is the incumbent again and the new NDP candidate is not as big a name as Hampton, Nault may get re-elected.

There is so much emphasis on number of seats won or lost but like the Liberals the loss of seats and candidates has led to what seems like generational renewal just like what the Liberals went through. 

Whether or not Singh remains leader it seems the NDP is turning left.

It is unfortunate to lose a candidate over an old tweet but there is an election to fight. The media will focus on whatever controversy they can find. Unless Singh wants his interviews focused on Israel and Palestinians it is probably best that he doesn't have a member suggesting the Israeli are creating mass graves full of Palestinians who were gassed or that they are intending to wipe them out as a people throughout the world in all the countries that they are planning to invade. 

Grassy Narrows Chief Rudy Turtle explains below why he is running for the NDP. As usual with Trudeau and the Liberals, it has to do with their failure to fulfil their campaign promises and meet the needs of citizens, especially the worst off. 

The situation in Grassy Narrows, which has been tormented by mercury poisoning for more than a generation, speaks to the disconnect between Trudeau’s words and the actions of his government, said Singh, who assailed the Liberals for failing to make good on a promise to develop a treatment facility in the community.

It was the Trudeau government’s “inaction” on the facility, promised by former Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott in late 2017, that prompted him to run for the NDP, said Turtle, described by Singh as a passionate voice for his community and an important one for New Democrats.

Philpott, who now sits as an Independent MP, has been urging her former government colleagues to get moving on the plan.

Grassy Narrows First Nation has been dealing with mercury contamination ever since a paper mill in Dryden, Ont., dumped some 9,000 kilograms of the toxin into the English-Wabigoon River system in the 1960s.

Those afflicted with mercury poisoning suffer from impaired peripheral vision, hearing, speech, and cognitive function. Other symptoms include muscle weakness, numbness or stinging pain in the extremities and mouth.

Earlier this year, Turtle publicly called for the federal government to put $88.7 million — the estimated 30-year cost for the facility — into a trust fund to ensure a treatment facility project could go ahead no matter the election results.

“It’s been a very difficult situation where they’ve done everything to stall this process and make it go slow,” he said. “I’m getting worried that it might not even happen.”

In May, the federal government expected to sign a memorandum of agreement during a much-anticipated visit to the community by Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Regan, but Turtle said the deal didn’t happen because the community needed more from the government.

Turtle said he did not decide to run for the NDP until he was approached about the prospect during the recent Ontario NDP convention in June, held in Hamilton, Ont., where Singh released the party’s platform.

O’Regan’s office said Monday it remains steadfast in its commitment to build a health facility for Grassy Narrows. A technical team has been holding meetings to discuss the plans, the latest of which took place last Wednesday, a statement said. ...

The work with the technical team has been slow and there continues to be disagreement on design and funding, Turtle said. The community is proposing a $19-million plan, while the federal government is looking at around $10 million, he added.

“It is just inadequate and it doesn’t address the specialized care that we need.”

https://vancouversun.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/grassy-narrows-chi...

Even with some low polling in Quebec, the NPD is nominating some good candidates:

Rémi-Jocelyn Côté - Avigon-La Mitis-Matane-Matapedia; Small business owner and municipal councillor in Sainte-Luce
https://www.lavantage.qc.ca/article/2019/07/25/remi-jocelyn-cote-sera-candidat-a-l-investiture-du-npd

Claude Dufour - Laurentides-Labelle: teacher and former mayor of Ferme-Neuve
https://lecourant.ca/articles/3649-claude-dufour-pourrait-etre-bientot-le-candidat-du-npd-pour-les-elections-federales.html

Chu Anh Pham - Honoré-Mercier; former Journalist for Radio-Canada, TVA and La Presse, currently communications advisor for the CSN.
https://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/chu-anh-pham-npd_qc_5d486734e4b0ca604e36587b?ncid=tweetlnkcahpmg00000011&fbclid=IwAR1-7ZJ8a6N5ittAue-9hx8pQ7or5DtHnQEn8eUDeP-Kc-xNVt9yhSB7cJY

What Kind of 'Progressive' Votes For Candidates/Parties That Support The Racist, Murderous Apartheid State of Israel?

"When people who lived under apartheid in South Africa say the racist apartheid regime in Israel is even worse their words must be listened to and acted upon."

https://twitter.com/damian_from/status/1157968772667514880

End NDP Support For Apartheid Israel!

WOW! Very Impressive!
Sophie Thiébaut, Borough Councilor Saint-Henri-Est-Petite-Bourgogne-Pointe-Saint-Charles-Griffintown District since 2009 will be the NPD candidate in Ville-Marie - Sud-Ouest - île des sœurs

via NDP Quebec Facebook page, she made the announcement with Alexandre Boulerice this morning.