Convention - Core Message: "Time For a NDP-Led Government"

At the Convention, I found that the core message/purpose was to announce the NDP's desire to run for government; its "coming of age", if you will. Everything from the professional done convention, to the guest speakers, to Jack Layton's speech was for the purpose of communicating this message.

And why not, I say. In order to win, people will have to believe that the NDP is capable of winning. Quite frankly, that is not going to happen with Jack Layton saying such junk as "I don't wanna be Prime Minister". I know a few people who switched their votes from NDP to Conservative in the last election because of that statement. Therefore, I think that this convention at least started to correct that mistake.

Also released in Convention is the NDP's Five Priorities once in Government. (Yes, I know I have released a different version of the NDP's Five Priorities, but I guess that those are more general focuses rather than specific, which these are). They are:

1. Housing that is more affordable for families.
2. Skills training for our young people.
3. Care for our seniors.
4. Protection for our environment.
5. Withdrawing from the Afghan war.

Let's face it, we live in an age where a party's agenda need to be clear and concise. That is one of the reasons why the Conservatives won. I say we must fight fire with fire!

But will saying that we want to become government make it so? Not instantly - I am connected to reality. But the fact is that by showing ourselves to be self-confident will encourage more people to vote for us, and we could work to get enough seats to become official opposition, which in turn could get us into government some day.

And let's look at the other parties. The Conservatives are wrong on the issues that matter to Canadians, for example the environment and child care. The Liberals are divided and have been proven to not do anything once in government.

It's time for the NDP to stop trying to be a "conscience" that can be ignored and start working to become the "brain" of Canada