BUILDING CANADIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
The Statement of Principles and the Mission Statement lay-out the values and direction of our Party. With Structure and Relations, we will attempt to outline the operational side; how this works, day-in and day-out.
History continually teaches us that the building of Canadian Social Democracy will occur only when the democratic left learns to work in unison. The Party can take great pride in what it has accomplished as the political manifestation of the left. But it is not the left exclusively; the left is also the labour movement, community and advocacy groups, the environmental movement as well as the farmers' movement.
The past successes of our movement have occurred when the left has united around a particular issue. It would be short-sighted to believe that social democracy can be built by only one or two of these components of the movement.
Central to our analysis is the belief that building Canadian Social Democracy requires the combined energy of citizens involved in three vital elements of activity:
-
A renewed Federal NDP capable of offering a genuine electoral alternative to the new conventional politics of the 1990s.
-
A vital labour movement that builds better workplaces and speaks to workers' interests on national issues.
-
Strong farmers' and advocacy organizations that mobilize people and communities around particular issues.
We recognize that the ultimate goal of building social democracy will be achieved when all three elements of the democratic left reach their potential. To that end we seek to renew our founding partnership with Labour and build alliances and friendships with organizations who share our principles and our goals.
We also believe that real and lasting change begins on the ground. The true fruition of these partnerships and alliances will happen at the community level. Riding association members, local union members, community members and farmers are capable of achieving practical objectives that lay social democracy's foundation. National organizations will not reach their combined potential without this vital local element.
In Party Structures, we offer a strong and renewed Federal NDP with local riding associations playing the central role.
In Party Relations, we offer an outline of how this renewed Party can connect with the labour movement, community and advocacy groups, and farmers' organizations.
PARTY STRUCTURE
This Report could not have been produced without the ideas and suggestions we received from the hundreds ofNew Democrats who attended the Structure Panels at the various Renewal Conferences, and those who provided us with reactions and comments to the April Draft Report. We hope that our analysis of the problems and the solutions we propose resonate with those who believe that there are better ways of doing things.
The Panel was struck by two fundamental truths:
-
The complexity and inaccessibility of the rules, traditions and structures that have been put in place in the past;
-
The desire of members to take ownership of the Party's future.
If we were going to contribute something positive to the Party's renewal, we quickly concluded that our Report should attempt to simplify the way we govern ourselves and arrive at decisions - including policy statements - and ensure that members are part of this process day-in and day-out. Simply put, the concepts of accountability and grass-roots control had to be the guiding principles behind all structural change.
As we struggled to figure out how we could make this happen, we came to realize that an overall two-fold approach was needed:
- The Federal Party must assume more responsibility for its own future;
-
Federal riding associations must be expected to play the central role in the life of the Party.
The Federal Party was built on Sectional foundations and members have reason to take pride in the fact that they are a part of the New Democrat family federally as well as provincially. We propose to work within this context to ensure that the Federal Party can have the means to control its destiny.
This destiny must be shaped by the members. It is at the riding association level that members come together and it is here that their participation should be made to be meaningful. Riding associations are the locomotive that pulls the train. Without healthy, active riding associations, the Party will never leave the station.
Our Report is divided into three parts.
In Part I: Policy Formulation, we offer a new way of arriving at policy that places the riding association in the loop. Policy development would be on- going. Riding associations would be able to initiate discussion any time, have access to available research and the work of progressive think-tanks, as well as offer feed-back on initiatives from other riding associations, Federal Council or the Policy Committee.
In Part II: Finances, we offer recommendations that will allow riding associations to achieve the financial stability they need to assume their new role. Federal ridings would no longer be governed by Sectional rules that dictate how and when money can be raised, and how much of this could be kept. Federal ridings would fall under federal jurisdiction and process contributions through Federal Office.
In Part III: Governance, we offer simpler, accountable decision making bodies on which riding associations are represented directly. The size of our decision making bodies would be cut in half. The money saved would be redirected to providing ridings with on-going organizational assistance.
At the end of the day, we wish to see a Federal Party that takes direction from the grass-roots, with structures, rules and decision making processes in place that ensure accountability and efficiency.
Do you like this page?