Issues in the NDP leadership contest

Today’s NDP leadership debate reminded me how important issue positions are for me in determining which candidates I like and dislike. This may sound somewhat strange, since the debates, including today’s, have largely focused on other topics, like Brian Topp’s lack of a seat in the House of Commons or Nathan Cullen’s proposal for joint nominations with the Liberals and/or Greens at the riding level.

(By this point, I’ve found both subjects rather tedious.)

But there have been a few issues that have influenced my opinions of the various candidates, like their positions on taxes, economic policy, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict… Oh, wait. Those are mostly just issues that have influenced my perception of Thomas Mulcair, whose economic policies are towards the right of the field and who is notorious (in the NDP) for his American-like support for Israel. Mulcair is reported to have said, “I am an ardent supporter of Israel in all situations and in all circumstances” to Canadian Jewish News on May 1, 2008. Since this quotation was apparently only published in print, I cannot find an online version to verify this claim. Nonetheless, it is in keeping with Mulcair’s general attitude towards Israel.

Despite the reality that many of the issues discussed in the media have differentiated only one candidate, Mulcair, from the rest of the group, there is at least one issue that for me has divided the field fairly cleanly: the long-gun registry. Nathan Cullen, Niki Ashton, and Martin Singh oppose bringing it back, although at least the first two wanted to preserve the data for a Quebec registry. (I’m not sure about Martin Singh’s position on that aspect of the issue.) Since early in the campaign, Brian Topp, Peggy Nash, and Paul Dewar have supported restoring the long-gun registry. Mulcair, today, became the fourth candidate to join that group.

This is an issue that has divided the NDP, a party that tends to do well in very rural (often northern) ridings and also urban centres, fairly clearly on urban-rural and regional lines. The Manitoba NDP government does not want to create a provincial long-gun registry. The three candidates from outside urban centres want to drop the issue, and the four urban candidates want to actively restore the gun registry. On a certain level, I can see the NDP wanting a rural leader, particularly from the West, to appeal to new constituencies. But having a leader who is not in favour of having a long-gun registry will have a hard time relating to people in Quebec–gun control seems to be just as much part of identity here as gun culture is in the rural West.

Certainly, this issue has impacted my perceptions of some of the candidates, though I plan on writing about them later. But what’s more important to me is the realization that the long-gun registry debate provides clear evidence that the NDP leadership contest does actually have strong policy divisions. I suspect that there is actually far more in the way of policy differences (and policy interests) than what I’ve seen in the debates and the headlines. So I intend on investigating further.