{"id":110319,"date":"2020-11-11T20:22:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T17:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-should-be-the-ndps-moment-to-shine-so-why-isnt-it\/"},"modified":"2020-11-11T20:22:31","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T17:22:31","slug":"this-should-be-the-ndps-moment-to-shine-so-why-isnt-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-should-be-the-ndps-moment-to-shine-so-why-isnt-it\/","title":{"rendered":"#This should be the NDP\u2019s moment to shine. So, why isn\u2019t it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a349e387a156\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a349e387a156\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-should-be-the-ndps-moment-to-shine-so-why-isnt-it\/#Be_the_Bernie_Sanders_you_want_to_see_in_the_world\" >Be the Bernie Sanders you want to see in the world<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-should-be-the-ndps-moment-to-shine-so-why-isnt-it\/#Play_to_centre_stage\" >Play to centre stage<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-should-be-the-ndps-moment-to-shine-so-why-isnt-it\/#Have_a_little_patience\" >Have a little patience<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#This should be the NDP\u2019s moment to shine. So, why isn\u2019t it?<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                                                                        They have a charismatic leader with good favourability ratings, an on-trend TikTok account and no history of ethical snafus. Their headline policies have mainstream support at a time when runaway government spending barely moves the needle. During a pandemic, they have pushed a scandal-ridden minority government to expand popular <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> programs with a direct impact on voters.<\/p>\n<p>Now is, in theory, a perfect time for Canada\u2019s federal New Democrats to shine. The labour movement is on the rise. Environmental issues are widely recognized as urgent. Socialism is attracting star power, at least south of the border. Yet at this critical juncture, when it should be surging, the NDP\u2019s polling numbers have barely budged, sputtering at around 17 per cent over the course of 2020. The failure to capitalize on this moment ultimately falls at the feet of Jagmeet Singh. As strategists try to pull him in wildly different directions, what is his plan to turn things around? Can he?<\/p>\n<p>No matter how you slice it, the biggest, most obvious challenge is that today\u2019s Liberals, like their predecessors, are wizards at campaigning on progressive ideas, even if they only take baby steps towards implementing them.<\/p>\n<p>Then there is the persistent narrative of a downward spiral. Just nine years ago, Jack Layton formed an NDP offic<em>i<\/em>al opposition for the first time, with more than 100 MPs. Today, the NDP is relegated to fourth-party status. In the national imagination, the more likely government-in-waiting is a Conservative party whose leader has barely made a first impression.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>READ:\u00a0Erin O\u2019Toole and the search for a new Canadian centre<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Three years into his own leadership, Singh still has his work cut out for him in clearly articulating what he stands for and why the NDP should be trusted to govern. It is no easy task, but as he tells <em>Maclean\u2019s<\/em>: \u201cIf I expected this to be easy, I would have become a Liberal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though staffers on Parliament Hill are convinced of party unity\u2014and Singh of a \u201cmassive unity\u201d\u2014that challenge extends to his own base, and his ability to galvanize the left in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>, especially as a new Green party leader stakes a claim on progressive turf.<\/p>\n<p>Every good soldier will say that internal debate is healthy, but some worry that divisions over the best way forward will cause people to turn away at a time when the NDP has every reason to think it can make gains. No road map, whether a hard push to the left, a play to the centre or a doubling down on the shaky status quo, can possibly please everyone.<\/p>\n<p>But the time for Jagmeet Singh to draw his battle lines is now. There are three broad camps vying for his attention. So which competing version of the NDP will he bring into the next election?<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Be_the_Bernie_Sanders_you_want_to_see_in_the_world\"><\/span>Be the Bernie Sanders you want to see in the world<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>The vision:<\/strong> Imagine the NDP as a populist incubator of Canadian versions of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Its leader is unafraid to rail at establishment elites, reclaim the word \u201csocialism,\u201d build deeper roots with activist movements and run elections on her party\u2019s boldest ideas. This version of the party does not concern itself with polling or punditry. Its goal is to be principled above all else.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The case:<\/strong> Activists describe a belief that central powers in the NDP are sacrificing principle for aspirations of power. They report a thirst for a Canadian politician to take on the language and conviction of characters like Bernie Sanders in the U.S. and Jeremy Corbyn in the U.K. Someone to be a \u201cconfident warrior\u201d for the working class, as British Columbia writer Vyas Saran puts it.<\/p>\n<p>The desire for an edgier brand of politician has led to wandering eyes\u2014some party members say they were part of an entryism operation in the Green party\u2019s leadership race to support \u201ceco-socialist\u201d candidates like runner-up Dimitri Lascaris.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese eco-socialists are interesting as a Canadian who\u2019s worried about the left alternative to another 150 years of Liberal-Conservative hegemony,\u201d says Chris Markevich, a former NDP staffer and host of podcast <em>Left Behind: Socialism in the Age of Right-Wing Populism<\/em>. \u201cRight now, other than the fact I\u2019m a member, I don\u2019t feel like I have a home politically.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>READ:\u00a0Jagmeet Singh calls MP \u2018racist\u2019 but has he forgotten about Bill 21?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Singh\u2019s 2019 pitch was already \u201cthe most left-wing platform we\u2019ve seen from a federal party in politics, at least in my lifetime,\u201d notes Christo Aivalis, a professor of political and labour history at Queen\u2019s University. But many of Singh\u2019s critics on the left argue he didn\u2019t go far enough.<\/p>\n<p>They note that recent polling has consistently shown majority support for many of the NDP\u2019s policies: universal pharmacare, a wealth tax, national child care, free post-secondary tuition. So why not run on all of those ideas? Why not go a step further and take Canadians at their word on more audacious climate change policies? Why not, at the very least, be clearer about where the party stands on pipelines and Indigenous sovereignty, even if it means criticizing provincial counterparts?<\/p>\n<p>Members voted in favour of adding free tuition to the policy book in 2018, but that didn\u2019t make it into last year\u2019s election platform. That\u2019s just one example of why many in the party grassroots feel disconnected from leadership, says Sam Hersh, who has served on the NDP\u2019s federal council. \u201cMembers are also, to a certain extent, angry because the only times they are reached out to are during election campaigns or when the NDP needs money,\u201d Hersh says. \u201cThere are people who are going to tear up their membership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Singh\u2019s staff deny that they\u2019ve heard any complaints along those lines, saying he participates in frequent calls and video chats with members. But those engagements don\u2019t always seem fruitful to people on the other end. \u201cThey should be asking us the questions, but that\u2019s not how the meetings go,\u201d says Sarah Jama, a community organizer in Hamilton who serves as the party\u2019s executive representative from its Persons Living with DisAbility Committee.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>READ:\u00a0Bernie Sanders vs. Joe Biden: Standing up or sitting down?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Last year, Jama helped elect Matthew Green in Hamilton, where he\u2019d served as its first Black city councillor. She and others who say they want to see a bolder party are heartened by Green\u2019s more activist <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to politics, as well as that of Leah Gazan, another rookie MP in Winnipeg Centre.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview, Gazan describes herself as a \u201cproud socialist.\u201d She goes out of her way to explain that a recent motion on universal basic income and a recent bill on climate policy were both developed with myriad community groups. \u201cIt\u2019s about people and the movement,\u201d she says. \u201cThat is a people\u2019s bill and I see my role as uplifting, in my platform, the people\u2019s voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The LEAP manifesto, which energized the left in 2016, was endorsed in principle by a majority of NDP members at the same convention that turfed Thomas Mulcair as leader. But many of its ideas were considered untenable by party leadership.<\/p>\n<p>The NDP, too concerned with placating attacks from the right, is \u201cstill a little bit too scared of their own shadow,\u201d argues Martin Lukacs, one of manifesto\u2019s co-authors. \u201cIt\u2019s preventing them from unleashing the kind of left-wing populist energy that this moment and the period we\u2019re living in calls for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lukacs sees parallels between LEAP and the Green New Deal promoted by Ocasio-Cortez in the U.S. He points to Gazan, a long-time community activist, as emblematic of what a Canadian version of AOC could look like, but fears she is held back by an ethos of timidity in party leadership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople ask, \u2018Where is Canada\u2019s AOC?\u2019 But I think AOC, as she has acknowledged herself, was only possible because she came out of a cauldron of social movement energy,\u201d Lukacs says. \u201cI think that racialized, working-class, fierce candidates of the AOC mould will emerge when we have a more insurgent challenge that comes from within the NDP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The caveat:<\/strong> Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn built large movements, but they didn\u2019t win. The American and British contexts are different, sure, and many of the young activists <em>Maclean\u2019s<\/em> spoke to actually seem content with the idea of not winning. They\u2019d rather be principled than focused on power. But at the end of the day, how will you get anything done if you can\u2019t get elected?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1212377\" style=\"width: 830px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"wp-image-1212377 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/JAGMEET-SINGH-PROGRESSIVE-MOVEMENT-SMITH-NOV04.jpg\" alt=\"It\u2019s okay if people don\u2019t know about NDP wins, says Singh: \u2018It\u2019s about making sure it gets done\u2019 (Adrian Wyld\/CP)\" width=\"820\" height=\"539\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">It\u2019s okay if people don\u2019t know about NDP wins, says Singh: \u2018It\u2019s about making sure it gets done\u2019 (Adrian Wyld\/CP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Play_to_centre_stage\"><\/span>Play to centre stage<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>The vision: <\/strong>Consider an NDP that is open to compromise and incremental change. It doesn\u2019t need everyone to agree on everything. By appealing to swing voters, it seeks to supplant the perpetual two-party system. It is willing to inch toward the middle and supplant the Liberals in order to become the clear alternative to conservatism. Its goal is to govern.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The case:<\/strong> Although she is by no means advocating for a push toward the centre, take it from Jennifer Howard, Singh\u2019s chief of staff and a former minister of finance of Manitoba: the goal of the NDP is to use political power to achieve its ideals. Period. And that means talking to ordinary people about what their priorities are, not ramming the entire policy book down their throats as soon as they open the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had the privilege of serving in an NDP government where those policy dreams and the reality of getting stuff done for people meet,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I think the way you deal with that as a New Democrat is you always have to have your eye on the big vision and the big goal and then you have to plod out the path to get there. And the path is one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For a brief time in 2015 it looked as though Thomas Mulcair, whose roots were in the Quebec Liberal Party, could win an election by taking a moderate approach and looking like the grown-up in the room. But along came a sparkling Justin Trudeau who cared not about balancing the budget. Christo Aivalis, the Queen\u2019s professor, argues that Mulcair lost the election on a perception, rather than a reality, that he was the less progressive option. \u201cYou can\u2019t just say Mulcair ran to the centre and got walloped and that\u2019s the answer,\u201d Aivalis says. \u201cJack Layton didn\u2019t run a very left-wing campaign in 2011.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many partisans saw those couple of elections, under leaders trying to appeal to a broader public, as the height of the party\u2019s potential. \u201cThere was a moment for the NDP, and for many reasons the party was not able to capitalize on that opportunity and transform itself as a real party of power in this country, a party able to govern,\u201d says Karl B\u00e9langer, a long-time staffer for Layton and Mulcair, a brief interim national director of the NDP and the current president of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation. \u201cThe party may soon not be considered a contender for power if they don\u2019t up their performances. And that\u2019s too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the nation\u2019s policy landscape shifts to the left during a pandemic, and the NDP\u2019s offerings under Jagmeet Singh bring it well to the left of where Layton and Mulcair were campaigning from, another strange dynamic could begin to be at play. Though unions have typically been crucial backers of the NDP and it has always thought of itself as the natural home for blue-collar workers, some of those workers are feeling left behind. And it\u2019s the Conservative party, as it reinvents its own brand, that is making a play for their support.<\/p>\n<p>Its new leader Erin O\u2019Toole\u2019s first speech in the House of Commons this fall contained an explicit appeal to unions. \u201cOrganized labour helps build strong communities\u201d where \u201cworkers know that someone has their back,\u201d O\u2019Toole said. That\u2019s by no means a traditional conservative pitch. Did he sense an opening?<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Holmstrom, a decade-long federal staffer, worries that the NDP is moving away from the rural communities and prairie workers that traditionally formed its base. Holmstrom, a consultant at Bluesky Strategy Group since 2018, points to a United Steelworkers local in Regina that endorsed the Conservatives last year after backing the NDP in 2015, citing Singh\u2019s opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Steelworkers are the most pro-NDP union you can come across. They used to represent our staff on Parliament Hill,\u201d Holmstrom says. \u201cPeople who naturally should be allies of the NDP are now moving away because the NDP\u2019s universe is shifting more toward urban environmentalists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Markevich, the podcast host, thinks the NDP has failed to articulate how it would bring workers into the conversation about climate change policy and ending a reliance on fossil fuels. \u201cThat\u2019s where the left is finding itself confused and disoriented. They cannot unify workers and environmentalists under one single message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To Holmstrom\u2019s mind, although climate policy is important, the solution is to speak more to workers than to environmentalists. Otherwise, the base will bleed.<\/p>\n<p>His worry is that an increasingly \u201cacute\u201d push to bring the party even further to the left\u2014partly from the party\u2019s leftmost wing and partly from outside agitators\u2014is at odds with the priority to form government. \u201cIf you\u2019re not trying to form a government, then what the heck are you doing?\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to go a little bit closer to the centre to do it. You\u2019re not going to get that chance by going hard the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The caveat: <\/strong>The party\u2019s most recent attempt at leaning toward the centre didn\u2019t go all that well. And the more the NDP overlaps with the Liberal party, even just rhetorically, the harder it will be to differentiate themselves. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like two franchises competing with the same menu offerings,\u201d says Liberal strategist Greg MacEachern. The joke goes: New Democrats are just Liberals in a hurry.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1212379\" style=\"width: 830px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"wp-image-1212379 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/JAGMEET-SINGH-NDPPROGRESSIVE-MOVEMENT-SMITH-NOV04.jpg\" alt=\"To preserve party members\u2019 support, Singh has to define himself beyond being a nice dude (Blair Gable\/Reuters)\" width=\"820\" height=\"547\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">To preserve party members\u2019 support, Singh has to define himself beyond being a nice dude (Blair Gable\/Reuters)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Have_a_little_patience\"><\/span>Have a little patience<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>The vision:<\/strong> The party today and its key influencers in Ottawa believe it\u2019s possible to strike a delicate balance between a gradual leftward tilt under Jagmeet Singh and an attempt at broad enough appeal to make him prime minister. Give him time. He is still learning. His popularity will grow\u2014and peak at a time when Canadians will be ready to take a chance on something new.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The case:<\/strong> The question may not be whether the NDP needs to be more moderate to win or more leftist to be principled. Perhaps that debate is a red herring, and the question is: how do they sell people on what they\u2019re already doing?<\/p>\n<p>Even Singh\u2019s critics are cautiously optimistic based on the last few months. His negotiations in a minority Parliament led to a significant expansion of this year\u2019s Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), the creation of a similar emergency benefit for students and the broadened availability of paid sick leave.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s awfully hard to tell if Canadians even know about those victories. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough message to get out,\u201d says the party\u2019s executive director, Anne McGrath, who was party president under Layton, national director under Mulcair and chief of staff to Alberta premier Rachel Notley. \u201cPeople\u2019s primary preoccupation is very immediate. They\u2019re not necessarily tied up in the minutia of who\u2019s doing what to get these things to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If people can\u2019t point to specific policies, \u201cthat\u2019s okay,\u201d says Singh. \u201cIt\u2019s not about credit. It\u2019s about making sure it gets done. I think people will know that we fought for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More recently, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> of chicken over a confidence vote, the Liberals forced the NDP into giving the impression that it would be willing to stand down on its policy demands if that meant preventing an election. Singh attempted to frame his voting with the Liberals as a bid to save Canadians from going to the polls when they\u2019d rather not, but it was a challenging exercise. \u201cI think they were trying to be the adults in the room, but it is a tough pitch to make when everybody says that you\u2019re doing it only because you\u2019re low in the polls, you\u2019re weak and therefore you\u2019re seen as folding,\u201d says B\u00e9langer, the party\u2019s former interim national director.<\/p>\n<p>The NDP is just getting back on its feet after a difficult few years. The party faces major organizational challenges in Quebec. It\u2019s down to one MP amid a resurgent Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois and, according to B\u00e9langer, \u201cnobody believes the NDP is coming back any time soon.\u201d It is still in debt from the 2019 federal election, although it expects to pay off its loans by the end of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>But things are now \u201cabsolutely looking up,\u201d says McGrath, who admits that \u201cthere\u2019s no question that we went into that last election in probably the worst shape I\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Howard, Singh\u2019s chief of staff, says: \u201cWe\u2019re better financially. Our fundraising is better and stronger. I think the cohesiveness of the party, the unity of the party, is stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like many inexperienced leaders, Singh made early mistakes, says a current staffer, who spoke on the condition their name not be used. He initially surrounded himself with \u201cyes men,\u201d prompting an exodus of staff in Ottawa before building a stronger team that included party veterans whose advice carried more heft. Rifts with caucus, even leading up to last year\u2019s election, have been resolved. McGrath and Howard both draw comparisons to Jack Layton and his slow rise to popularity. It took four elections for Layton to grow the party from 13 seats to its best-ever result.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years, Jack was very promising, but not as well-known as we needed him to be. And by a certain point in his leadership it became impossible to walk a block without getting stopped about 20 times. And that is happening much earlier in Jagmeet\u2019s leadership,\u201d says McGrath.<\/p>\n<p>Polls have always told a good story about Canadians\u2019 support for New Democratic ideas, if not for the party itself. That\u2019s why party brass generally pay more attention to leader favourability and party favourability than to \u201cactual issues,\u201d according to the current staffer. Voter intention is hovering around 18 per cent, which is about where Layton was before his meteoric rise in the 2011 election. Singh\u2019s favourability sits at 43 per cent, according to a recent Angus Reid poll (though unfavourable views were almost as high, at 41 per cent).<\/p>\n<p>Singh is recognizable. He appeals to youth. He cuts an inspiring figure, especially to racialized Canadians. And he can compete with Trudeau on matters of style. But he has taken heavy criticism for seeming vague on policy positions. In his interview with <em>Maclean\u2019s<\/em>, Singh skirted around specifics even when asked broad questions about what has defined his leadership, and what differentiates his party most distinctly from the Liberals or the Greens.<\/p>\n<p>Asked how he can strategically re-establish the NDP as a natural home for the left, he expressed his own deep belief for universal programs and said \u201cwe have to come together to fight\u201d the pandemic. \u201cI\u2019m very confident that people can see in me, and in the work that we\u2019ve done, and in our party, the belief in a real way of how we can build a better way.\u201d Asked how he can convince voters that his party is ready to govern, he pivoted back to examples of pandemic victories. \u201cPeople are seeing us, seeing me as a leader, us as a team, as folks that have been fighting for them, have been on their side,\u201d Singh said. \u201cIf we were in government, we would be able to get a lot more done. Imagine what we could do if people elected more New Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes the unwillingness to corner himself into a specific position makes sense, because of regional contradictions within the NDP. But other times the problem seems to be in a genuine indecision, or in his delivery, which perhaps betrays an instinct to value good vibes over controversy.<\/p>\n<p>If Singh\u2019s staff have one complaint, it\u2019s that sometimes he is too \u201cchill\u201d when they\u2019d like him to get fired up. His tone is unwaveringly chill\u2014cheerful, even\u2014and he won\u2019t admit to being exhausted at the NDP\u2019s Sisyphean uphill struggle. It\u2019s a hopeful attitude that seems to have served him better on the campaign trail than in the push and pull of Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s got to be a joyful struggle,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s my motto, having happiness and joy while doing difficult, hard work that\u2019s so important. I have a joy tank, a happiness tank, that I always keep filled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The caveat:<\/strong> It\u2019s tough to imagine the NDP giving their leader three more elections to prove himself, especially if he doesn\u2019t make gains next time\u2014and especially if the Liberals end up with the kind of majority support that other governments have seen during pandemic-era provincial elections. Even if party members do pin their hopes on Singh for the foreseeable future, relying on a cult of personality means being able to pin that personality down. No matter which adventure he chooses, Singh will need to define himself beyond being a nice dude, a good person and someone who will \u201cfight for Canadians\u201d in vague terms.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>This article appears in print in the December 2020 issue of<\/em> Maclean\u2019s <em>magazine with the headline, \u201cThe battle for the left.\u201d Subscribe to the monthly print magazine <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/secure.macleans.ca\/loc\/MME\/head_subscribe\">here<\/a>.<\/em><br \/>\n<span class=\"ctx-article-root\"><!-- --><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/politics\/this-should-be-the-ndps-moment-to-shine-so-why-isnt-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#This should be the NDP\u2019s moment to shine. So, why isn\u2019t it?&#8221; They have a charismatic leader with good favourability ratings, an on-trend TikTok account and no history of ethical snafus. Their headline policies have mainstream support at a time when runaway government spending barely moves the needle. During a pandemic, they have pushed a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/JAGMEET-SINGH-NDPPROGRESSIVE-MOVEMENT-SMITH-NOV04-750x422.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67806,72374,79658,79659],"class_list":["post-110319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-editors-picks","tag-jagmeet-singh","tag-ndp-leader-jagmeet-singh","tag-new-democratic-party"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}