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Thought for the Day

Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet.

— Alice Walker

NDP: Still Socialist

New Democrats will remain socialists for now as delegates voted to send a controversial change to the language in the party constitution back to the drawing table to avoid a divisive debate.

About 1,500 members of the NDP gathered this weekend to celebrate their success and get ready to grow into an NDP that has a serious shot at forming government in four years, a process that involved heated debates that showed just how much the party is struggling to define itself.

As the Star reported last week, part of the evolution — and vote-seeking strategy — championed by party brass would involve removing the words “democratic socialism” from the NDP constitution in favour of softer language.

[...]

"People wanted to try and find a refinement and modernization of the language to capture what our values are. There was no disagreement about the values. It was about the nature of the label, so (delegates) said: 'Well let's talk about that some more,'" said Layton. "Our opponents may try to paint that as some kind of identity crisis. I think that would be ridiculous."

The lineups at the microphones when the constitutional resolution came up for debate was long and NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) led the charge in favour of the new wording, saying the socialist language in the constitution was an anchor holding the party back — and scaring voters away — at a time when it is closer to forming government than every before.

"Socialism is not an anchor, it's a rocket," Barry Weisleder, who chairs the unofficial socialist caucus that meets in its own room at NDP conventions, shot back.

— "NDP will remain socialists for now", Toronto Star