Dennis Raphael and Toba Bryant Credit: Alex Raphael @photogrpahy.raphael
Welcome to Small Change where we engage in conversations grounded in accessible facts and research.
Today, I’m speaking with Dennis Raphael, Professor of Health Policy and Management at York University, who recently co-authored a paper with Toba Bryant called, The Old Mole and the New Democratic Party: Why the NDP is an Impediment to Social Progress in Canada.
Listeners can get a copy by emailing draphael@yorku.ca.
I’ve interviewed Raphael many times for articles addressing social murder, Finnish baby boxes and the work of Bertolt Brecht whose poetry and plays were all about class struggle.
We’ve also made podcasts together, most recently about why the 1% don’t want a Basic Income Guarantee.
Today, Raphael and I discuss the New Democratic Party (NDP) and how the current provincial and federal NDP parties, figure into the lack of progress being made when it comes to improving life for working class Canadians.
And, working class Canadians represent basically everyone who does not fall within the one per cent, because the middle class has been wiped out by libertarian Liberal and Conservative policies.
Raphael provides a concise synopsis of his most recent paper co-authored by Toba Bryant, Associate Professor Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University.
Raphael and I also discuss why the NDP refuse to use the word social democrat or socialist in their day-to-day organizing work and the impact that has on public perception despite a growing movement among all ages towards socialism.
To understand the massive shift from what Tommy Douglas and Stanley Knowles envisioned when they founded the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) that eventually became the NDP and morphed into the more centrist party that we see today under Marit Stiles and Jagmeet Singh, Raphael provides a brief overview of the NDP.
The old guard included Douglas, David Lewis (federal), Stephen Lewis (provincial) and Ed Broadbent (federal) who initially supported The Waffle Party (1969), led by professors Mel Watkins and James Laxer, that established a Manifesto for an Independent Socialist Canada and worked with the NDP caucus and membership to push the party farther left. Eventually, The Waffle Party was squashed by David Lewis.
Waffle initiatives included nationalizing Canadian industries to remove American interests from the equation.
New Democratic Youth endorsed The Waffle Party that stated, "A socialist society must be one in which there is democratic control of all institutions, which have a major effect on men's lives and where there is equal opportunity for creative non-exploitative self-development. It is now time to go beyond the welfare state."
Okay, the ‘men’s lives’ is definitely dated and needs to be replaced by ‘all folks,’ however, the old guard NDP successfully pushed The Waffle Party out otherwise Canadians would have a very different, more socialist NDP working for the people 50-years later.
Raphael and I also discuss how reforming the electoral process could lead to the kind of social justice reform needed to address the polycrisis Canadians are currently dealing with.
We also question why NDP federal leader Jagmeet Singh failed to demand electoral reform from Trudeau’s minority government when he had the opportunity.
Here’s some important links that are mentioned throughout the podcast:
Borgen on Netflix
The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) Enough is Enough Campaign
Die Linke (2024) Programme Of The Die Linke Party.
Hamilton Centre Independent MPP Sarah Jama
Disability justice is the antithesis of capitalism, Doreen Nicoll podcast with Sarah Jama, rabble.ca
Sarah Jama works for justice for everyone, Doreen Nicoll, rabble.ca
Housing a human right, Doreen Nicoll, rabble.ca
Sarah Jama is building a world where every BODY can thrive!, Doreen Nicoll, Small Change
Can the NDP be progressive again? Toba Bryant and Dennis Raphael, The Hamilton Spectator, December 13, 2022
Majority of Canadians have a Positive View of Socialism, Poll Says, Baneres, I., Toronto Star, August 27, 2019
Innovative Research Group (2021) “Economic Transformation.”
Lexier, R. & Corbeil, P. (2021). “After Sixty years, Canada’s New Democratic Party Must Embrace Class Struggle.” Jacobin, July 31, 2021.
Lukacs, M. (2022b). “The NDP is Run by a Consultant Class Geared Toward Capitulation.” The Breach, March 27, 2022.
Thanks to everyone who read today’s article and listened to my podcast. With your continued support, a little Nicoll can make a lot of change.
Music: Real Estate by UNIVERSFIELD is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License. freemusicarchive.org.
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