The other day a friend who lives in a riding where the NDP stands a good chance of winning told me he was voting Green because “I am tired of the old line parties.” I told him to read Jack Layton’s book Speaking Out: Ideas that Work for Canadians. In the cacophony of an election campaign it’s hard to tell but Jack Layton is beginning to redefine social democracy and as far as I can see,it’s the major hope for future change at the electoral level. If you are thinking of voting Liberal to stop Stephen Harper or Green or the Marijuana Party, read this book and I guarantee your vote will move to the NDP.

A surface read of Speaking Out reveals a slew of excellent ideas about the environment, the economy and homelessness. After decades of being accused of having no ideas and living in the past, the NDP under Layton’s leadership has come up with excellent ideas, some of which — such as developing wind power — are being stolen by almost everyone else.

A more careful read shows a new way of thinking about politics that challenges the old patriarchal top-down notions that government, bureaucrats, businessmen and political parties are the leaders of change. Almost every idea in Layton’s book comes from a community group or a local government. In chapter after chapter, he describes a form of government where the initiative comes from the local level — from the community — and the role of government is to fund and support those initiatives and help to promote what’s successful.

When he discusses food security, he tells us about FoodShare in Toronto and FarmFolk/CityFolk in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, groups that provide direct farm-to-table connections and help feed poor people in the process. When he talks about cleaning up the environment, he tells us about how local communities have renovated brown lands to great success.

Of course, he sees a role for government to lead as well. He lauds Liberal cabinet minister Claudette Bradshaw (Minister of Labour and Ministerresponsible for Homelessness) for her Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative that provided funding for local groups to improve services to the homeless but he also points out that not a single new housing unit was built. He insists on federal funding for social housing but comes up with innovative ways of financing it through pension funds, an idea he got from B.C. unions which did the same.

Even in the chapter on health care, he steps outside the usual debate about medicare funding and talks about the importance of preventative health care citing several community initiatives that pushed him in the right direction when he was Chair of the Board of Health in Toronto

The book is weak on the policy side of participatory democracy where he sees initiatives at the local level without developing his ideas of how citizens could be engaged in political decision-making at the national level as well. But when it comes to providing services and solving problems, Layton’s book provides myriad ways that government can empower communities to solve their own problems.

The Greater London Council developed this approach in the 1970’s under the leadership of Ken Livingston. Margaret Thatcher saw the democratizing ideas of the GLC as such a threat to her neo-liberal revolution that she banished the government of London altogether rather than risk an appealing new left politics. Layton has long been an admirer of the GLC and it shows in his book.

What’s most important is that Layton realizes that social change happens in the community not in Parliament. He has shown that in practice by developing a new relationship with social movements and citizen organizations. Unlike the old NDP that was often hostile to social movements which were non-partisan, Layton understands that an equal partnership with movements on common issues is vital to constructing a new stronger political left.

Whether the Conservatives or the Liberals form the government, minority or majority, giving Jack Layton’s NDP a strong voice in Parliament is the only way to ensure that these ideas begin to have a hearing. A strong NDP presence in Parliament will mean that the media will have to pay attention. There are a number of strong left-wing candidates across the country that will be effective Members of Parliament.

Even if you are in a riding where the NDP doesn’t stand a chance, this time your vote counts for almost two dollars. In the past the federal NDP has barely existed between elections. Their funding was totally tied to federal elections. This is why the provincial parties, especially Saskatchewan and Manitoba have had such a conservatizing influence. Layton has told me that he will use the yearly public funding provided under the new electoral law to hire organizers to work with community groups on issues.

Voting for the least worst, a protest vote or not voting will not change anything. Voting NDP just might.

Judy Rebick

Judy Rebick

Judy Rebick is one of Canada’s best-known feminists. She was the founding publisher of rabble.ca , wrote our advice column auntie.com and was co-host of one of our first podcasts called Reel Women....