NDP

Internal emails accuse NDP officials of shutting out Indigenous, racialized and marginalized members

OTTAWA—Top party officials of the federal NDP face accusations of undermining Indigenous, racialized and other marginalized party members, internal emails show, as the New Democrats struggle to rebuild after a crushing election defeat.

The emails, penned by two of the NDP’s federal council members and Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan, paint a picture of a party grappling with allegations that some within the party feel ignored by top officials at a time when the NDP is fighting for its survival.

The New Democratic Party is facing deep uncertainty following a crushing defeat in April’s federal election, with new polling showing just 13% of Canadians say they would “definitely” consider voting NDP in the future.

The Angus Reid Institute survey reveals the scale of the challenge ahead for interim leader Don Davies, who took over after Jagmeet Singh lost his Burnaby-South seat and stepped down.

That many?

OTTAWA — Former NDP MP Charlie Angus says he does not intend to run for party leadership, but called the recent election “an unmitigated disaster” for New Democrats.

Angus, who did not seek reelection after first entering the House of Commons in 2004, appeared on Parliament Hill on Wednesday to express concerns he has heard from people about U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming trip to attend the G7 leaders’ summit in Alberta.

OTTAWA—On the heels of a devastating election campaign, the New Democratic Party’s road to recovery is off to a tense start as party insiders and grassroots activists tilt behind the scenes over the party’s next big challenge: Who will replace Jagmeet Singh?

Potential high-profile candidates have signalled a lack of interest and the process of even deciding how to orchestrate a leadership contest is already divisive.

OTTAWA — Government House leader Steven MacKinnon says the NDP will not be granted official party status because the law says a party needs at least 12 seats to be recognized.

The NDP was reduced to just seven seats in last month’s election.

Interim NDP Leader Don Davies has told The Canadian Press he spoke with the Prime Minister’s Office about obtaining official party status for the NDP in the House of Commons.

In the dying days of the federal election campaign, senior New Democrats made a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save Jagmeet Singh’s Burnaby, B.C., seat. Some say it was unwinnable.

At least 20 staff from the party’s Ottawa headquarters packed the leader’s campaign plane just days before the April 28 election, hitching a ride to the West Coast with a mission to door-knock on his behalf. This was after a small team were sent to Burnaby Central earlier in that month.

The cross-country venture was a waste of resources when the party was fighting for its life in other, closer races, according to three, frustrated sources within the party, who spoke to CBC News on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Scummy to the very end.

The government House leader says he doesn’t expect the NDP to gain official party status in the House of Commons.

Steven MacKinnon told CBC News Network’s Rosemary Barton Live that despite ongoing negotiations with interim NDP Leader Don Davies, he doesn’t expect the opposition party will be granted party status.

Had better not be.

British Columbia New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan says she’s been here before.

In 2001, Kwan was a member of the B.C. legislature when the Liberals decimated the provincial NDP government, winning 77 of 79 seats.

Kwan was one of only two New Democrats who kept their seats.

“I’m not a stranger to this environment,” Kwan said from her office in Vancouver. “We came back stronger.”

OTTAWA—Former NDP MP Charlie Angus says the party ran an “absolutely disastrous campaign” that “missed the moment” and focused too much on leader Jagmeet Singh, as more New Democrats leave the door open to leadership bids.

The scathing assessment — from a prominent New Democrat who placed second in the 2017 leadership race that catapulted Singh to the party’s top job — came as the NDP caucus was set to meet Thursday to discuss its next steps following the party’s worst-ever election result.

The New Democratic Party’s devastating electoral losses do not translate to a death knell for the party but are an important signal that some significant structural changes are needed, analysts say.

“I don’t believe the claims that this is it for the NDP,” said Andrea Lawlor, an associate professor of political science at McMaster University.

“But for them it is the type of organizational crisis that is going to require a lot of attention and soul-searching in order to get back on a footing where they are viewed by Canadians as a really fundamental third option.”

Appropriately in future years Canadians might only recall Jagmeet Singh’s tenure as NDP head honcho, while waiting with nervous trepidation for a root canal.

Yes, getting the Liberals to throw Singh that small bone of agreeing to provide almost free dental care for a narrow subset of Canucks — something we couldn’t afford as a nation, of course — was the sum total of his pay-off for keeping the Justin Trudeau regime in power, way past its best-before date.