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Writer's pictureMichael Laxer

Fun and games in NDP land as Sask party ghosts Singh & Singh still pretends no coalition with Libs



Just when you think the ongoing farce that is the NDP in Canada could not possibly get anymore laughable, news comes that the Saskatchewan provincial wing of the party has decided not to invite federal leader Jagmeet Singh to their upcoming convention. Given the near mythological status New Democrats give to the land of the deified Tommy Douglas this is, unsurprisingly, sending shockwaves through the party's online supporters while presumably being meet with glee by its opponents.


The new provincial party leader Carla Beck and her backers -- apparently inspired by Rachel Notley -- seem to think that Singh is bad for NDP business in the prairies because of his utterly milquetoast stances on some environmental issues.


According to the Regina Leader-Post, the decision came after a "heated" debate at the party's provincial council on September 18:


Before members were asked to vote on inviting Singh, a member connected to Beck’s leadership campaign raised concerns about the federal party.
They cited the 2020 autopsy report that analyzed the Saskatchewan NDP’s loss during the last provincial election. The report urged the provincial NDP to be harder on the federal party when Saskatchewan’s interests are at stake, noting that leader Jagmeet Singh’s position on resource development and pipelines have hurt the brand.
They said there are constituents who would vote for the Saskatchewan NDP but don’t like how the federal NDP has propped up the Trudeau government.

This is all rather humorous on a number of levels not the least of which is how right wing a party leadership would have to be to see Singh in this light.


It is also an ultimately self-destructive and stupid move that inevitably both made the news and forced all involved into an awkward situation all of the Saskatchewan NDP's own making.


So, it is 100% what you would expect from the NDP.


The "New Labour" feel of the Sask party right now is pretty pronounced:




Meanwhile, Singh and the federal party are still in denial that they are, in fact, propping up the Liberal government and that they have entered into what amounts to a coalition with them.


I have looked at how it is a de facto coalition before in Dull and duller: The NDP's totally predictable capitulation to the Liberals and Could the federal NDP and its apologists please stop with the bullshit. At any rate, it is a fact that the NDP has agreed to back the Liberal government until 2025, that they did not even get cabinet positions despite agreeing to this and that the "concessions" they got from the Liberals in exchange are a joke.


The best part is, even though Singh and the NDP agreed to this deal they still try to pretend that it does not somehow involve them. Hence rank hypocrisy like that seen in this inane fundraising email from September 26:



Yes, in order to build a "movement" taking on "establishment" parties like the Liberals give money to the party keeping them in government. The kind of mental pretzeling it would take to buy into this boggles the mind.


Some left commentators continue to pen appeals to the NDP in the vain hope that one day the red flag will come out and the NDP will somehow become something it is not and has never been.


Don't hold your breath.

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