First lady of federal NDP Olivia Chow and Canadian police person

UPDATED AUGUST 16. The federal New Democratic Party is meeting at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax this coming Friday-Sunday, August 14—16. Among many other things, “delegates will debate and vote on a proposal to drop the ‘New’ from the party’s name, going with just the Democratic Party.”

Our guess is that delegates will not go quite this far. But if this proves wrong we’ll be pleased. The arrival of something called the Democratic Party of Canada could spark some much-needed fresh debate about realignment on the left in Canadian federal politics.

Like Newfoundland`s provincial NDP leader Lorraine Michael, many party members are still “uncomfortable with Canada’s NDP having the same name as the US party” (even in the age of Barack Obama). Yet as BC activist Michael Byers has urged: “Nobody confuses Britain’s Conservative party … with Canada’s Conservative party.”

There is also a continuing problem with just “Democratic Party” in French, as with “New Democratic Party.” In either case the short form too much resembles the short form of “an anti-gay slur ‘pédéraste’.” The Quebec activist Duncan Cameron has proposed that: “One very Canadian solution would be for the party to become ‘Rassemblement Démocratique’ in French and Democratic Party in English. The translation is not exact but then the words to ‘Oh Canada’ are not the same in English or French either.”

Federal NDP leader Jack Layton

Duncan Cameron may also have come up with the name-change-debate compromise that will finally win this weekend: “The Halifax convention should establish a process for re-mandating, and re-naming the party. It should be a member-based, participatory process.” I.e., the party will be renamed . But not right away, and not necessarily as just the Democratic Party of Canada.

Ho hum. For us, what would really start to make the party interesting again for the larger progressive community is Mr. Cameron’s original thought about ‘Rassemblement Démocratique’ and Democratic Party. If that ever did happen in Halifax it could even be an almost transforming breath of fresh air on the Canadian federal scene. We will quietly keep our fingers crossed.

UPDATE AUGUST 16: So New Democrats finally wimped out on even voting on their proposed name change. Not a good sign at all as far as we’re concerned. A name change if necessary but not necessarily a name change. The Liberals already give us this kind of traditional Canadian political thought!

See: “Time runs out before New Democrats vote to consult on changing party name … New Democrats headed home from their weekend convention in Halifax without considering a resolution to change the party name.” For polling results on the proposed change see “NDP name change wouldn’t hurt: poll.”