A Policy-Fractious NDP

Every political party has its passionately-engaged members whose beliefs, values and struggles on behalf of ideals they hold dear set them apart from the larger group who tend to be more balanced and moderate in their stance, whether their politics stands to the left, the right, or the middle of the political spectrum.

Canadians tend as a population, to be left-leaning, but not all that much so. We have, in the past, chosen to place our trust in the 'middle' more often than in the hard 'left' or the equally stiff 'right'.

Lately, those divisions have softened considerably, so that we see evidence that the left has become rigidly 'right-leaning' in some areas, and the right has become middle-of-the-road, and the middle has become, well somewhat redundant. Where the Liberals were once the party of choice, to be thrown out as the scoundrels they became with entitled reign, the NDP were always bridesmaids, and the Conservatives occasionally rated the ceremony of ascent to the alter.

Most governments, and Canada no less than most, look primarily as they should, to advantage their constituency within the country. Good governance is constituted by law and order, a system of justice, educational opportunities, encouragement of open business climate leading to full employment, and the smooth functioning of civic infrastructure from mail delivery to federal policing agencies, immigration, prison system, employment insurance, pension, armed forces, for example.

But then there is the international aspect of governing, as part of a global system of nations and intersecting trade, human rights, emigration, mutual defence and other interests. And the New Democratic Party takes some of those issues seriously indeed. So much so that it becomes surprising that its members at either end of the spectrum with respect to one foreign country alone - Israel - takes them at direct odds with one another.

Now that Jack Layton, the leader of the NDP, is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, two deputy leaders have been delegated to work closely together to ensure that the party is not rudderless. One, Thomas Mulcair, subscribes to an agenda that feels that New Democrats should be supportive of the State of Israel, seen as unmistakably pro-Israel, and definitely anti-Hamas.

The second of the two deputy leaders is far better known, her exploits having hit front page news from time to time, as when she visited Gaza last year as a passionate supporter of the Palestinian 'cause' for statehood, and a supporter as well of Hamas, accusing Israel of dastardly war crimes, in attempting to protect itself from the deadly incursions of Hamas 'militants' in their desire to wipe Israel from the MidEast map.

When, last year the Conservative-led government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper made it known that Canada would be boycotting Durban 2, held in Geneva as the UN Conference on Racism, (also known as an anti-Israel international rant) MPs Thomas Mulcair, Judy Wasylcia-Leis and Pat Martin led a revolt in the caucus after Mr. Layton and the NDP roundly criticized the government for its action.

Leading party activist Matt Godwin to launch a group called Progressive Caucus for Peace to lend a more balanced approach to the NDP internal dialogue and public statements with respect to the two-state solution. Hoping that their reasonableness might result in the juvenile fashion of wearing Palestinian solidarity scarves and the spewing of anti-Israel rhetoric being stifled.

The radical left personified by CUPE Ontario's Sid Ryan, who struggled to effect a ban on Israeli academics visiting Canadian universities, and Trent University professor Michael Neumann who likens the State of Israel to illegitimacy incarnate as an evil presence on the world stage whose mandate it is to visit a "kinder gentler genocide" upon Palestinians, has become an embarrassment to the NDP.

With Mr. Layton's temporary withdrawal from actively working toward keeping the two factions from one another's throats and advertising the dysfunctionality of the NDP to a wider audience, it's anyone's guess what might finally result when the dust of disagreement and calls for moderation settles.

One can only hope that those who find it difficult to stifle their single-minded vilifications of Israel while deifying the Palestinian cause may finally be shunted aside, and reason prevail. The NDP might conceivably through that process, regain some of its sadly lost respect within the larger population, resulting in an increase in voter support.

Dream on.