NDP vs. Liberals: NDP Is The Only Progressive Choice

The message coming from the Liberals lately seems to be "we've changed, we've decided to become more progressive, and the NDP is irrelevant." But is that the real case? Today, I'm going to show how the Liberals have not changed and that the NDP needs more progressive votes in order to ensure a government that works for Canadians.

1. Liberals say: "Dion changes everything"
   
   Notice that ever since Dion got elected, that all of a sudden, the Liberals are claiming that the Liberal Party has changed.
   
   Well, I have two responses to this:
   
   The first response is, well, how can a single person change the political and organization culture of a entire political party? The answer, of course, is that a single person can only do so much - and over a long period of time. So has Dion really changed the culture of arrogance and entitlement that exists in the Liberal Party in a few short weeks? The answer is no.
   
   The second response is that Dion does not really represent change. Now, I hear a lot of Liberals say that Dion's victory represents a victory of the grassroots. That's a lot of BS. First of all, the core organizers crucial to his success are firmly entrenched into the old guard. Second of all, I believe I saw many MP's run towards Dion for the final ballot. Third of all, the delegates there were the elite, rich grassroots, not the common grassroots. I mean, how can a regular Joe Liberal afford $995 Convention fee plus travel expenses? As well, Dion has been in the cabinets of two Liberal Prime Ministers, handpicked by Chretien. If this does not spell "Old Guard", I don't know what does.
   
   
2. The Grassroots Is Still Shut Out
   
   Another thing I heard during the leadership convention is "we need to involve the grassroots to become stronger", and "we must renew". But despite all of this talk, the Liberals did their typical thing and really did not act on it.
   
   The only change that really occurred that I see benefiting the grassroots is the "Council of Presidents", which is a meeting of all electoral district presidents. This is good, as the electoral districts are closest to the grassroots. Of course, the NDP has had a similar body for a long time now.
   
   Other than that, the changes were done to make the lives of top Liberals easier, not benefit the grassroots.
   
   As well, the Liberals did not change to an weighted by constituency one member one vote (OMOV) system to elect thier leaders, leaving the grassroots shut out, unless of course they have big bucks to pay for the "privilege". The NDP does elect its leader democratically through an OMOV System, and while it is not perfect, it is democratically light-years ahead of the ancient Liberal delegate system.
   
   
3. Liberals say: "Now that we have changed, don't vote for the NDP anymore. Please?"
   
   Well, by now, you must realized that the Liberals has not changed.
   
   But, you say, if I give the Liberals my vote this time, we can get rid of the Conservatives and their implementation of their agenda for Canada.
   
   You can get rid of the Liberals, yes, but if they receive a majority, the implementation of the Conservatives' agenda won't be stopped. Maybe slowed down, peppered by "social justice" announcements to prove that the Liberals are different (which they are, marginally), but not stopped.
   
   If you want to stop the implementation of the Conservatives' agenda, the progressive should vote for the NDP, with the intent of having a strong NDP.
   
   If the NDP receives government, things will be the best for progressives.
   
   If the NDP is a strong opposition in Parliament, the Liberals will have to focus on the things that matter to Canadians. Examples of this would the Trudeau minorities and the Paul Martin minority. Even under the Conservative minority, the NDP has been successful in making improvements. For instance, it was the NDP that gave all of the parties a chance to review and change Harper's useless Clean Air Act.
   
   If the NDP is weak, things that matter to progressives and Canadians will fall by the wayside, the best example of this being the Liberal governments of the 1990's, where things that mattered to Canadians were cut and not restored when the situation became better.

I'll stop there for now, though there are many other things that I could get into. I think that its quite oblivious now that the NDP is the vote that will give the "best bang for the buck" for progressives. The Liberals have not changed, they do not have the willingness to change, and putting aside my partisanship for a minute I wish that they would change.