The last few years have seen an increasing number of people turn away from the NDP, both people who identify as being on the left and those who don't. With the Liberals trying to occupy the bulk of the political spectrum and with the swing to the right of social democracy, the NDP in Canada has had almost nowhere to go but left. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of resistance from the party brass who feel that a more "pragmatic" approach will keep the NDP strong. Debate at the late November federal NDP convention in Winnipeg was centred around the New Politics Initiative (NPI) (see the forum on the NPI in the Oct-Nov 2001 issue of New Socialist).

As a delegate at the convention, it was quite clear to me that the discussion on renewal within the party was not going to go very far in seriously questioning the overall direction of the NDP. Although the approach taken to the official party renewal process was fairly grassroots and democratic and its interim report suggested a real need and desire to move further to the left, the three core values that were drawn from the report were democracy, equity and sustainability. These values do not really suggest any particular political direction and allow federal leader Alexa McDonough to pretend that she has "put everything on the table" and is willing to help move the party when it is clear that she is trying to maintain the status quo. The party leadership was also clearly trying to shut down any discussion of the NPI and prevent it from gaining momentum at the convention.

It was impossible to contain the energy of the NPI and as someone who had been a little skeptical of the whole process, which seemed a little top down, I found myself quickly becoming a supporter. The NPI meeting on the first official night of the convention was one of the most inspirational political spaces I have ever been in. The people I met who had the most principled politics were the hundreds of NPI supporters who were all very critical of the party machine and talked about how politics is about much more than gaining office.

NPIers rejected McDonough's approach and for the most part called for a party that is consistent, activist-oriented and democratically socialist. The NPI forums were open, democratic and much more diverse than the convention floor. Many people were given an opportunity to speak. Street level activism and social movements were frequently pointed to as models of political engagement. Other political models included forms of participatory democracy such as the participatory budget in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Throughout the convention, the NPI gained a lot of momentum. With young activists wearing nothing but the NPI banner and radical cheerleaders rehearsing NPI cheers, it was clear that a new kind of politics was being ushered in.

The resistance to new, dynamic politics that might challenge the party status quo was obvious during the debate on the NPI resolution. Bill Blaikie and others in the old guard turned the vote into a question of loyalty to the NDP and manipulated the discourse so that it appeared NPI supporters were voting against the NDP instead of pushing to transform it into something new.

The final vote had almost 40% of delegates voting in favor of the NPI motion (which was, to be honest, watered down and left some room for the NDP to wiggle out of making dramatic changes). This is fairly remarkable given how short a time the NPI has been in existence. Although there was a real mood of defeat when the motion went down, especially amongst the young delegates, there is a drive to keep the NPI alive and have it become a more relevant and involved political force on the left. My belief is that there is real potential for the NPI to radically transform the face of left politics in Canada and this effort should be supported by socialists to ensure it maintains a radical and critical edge.