The New Ndp

The New NDP is the definitive account of the evolution of the New Democratic Party’s political marketing strategy in the early twenty-first century. In 2011, the federal NDP achieved its greatest electoral success – becoming the official opposition. The moderation of its ideology and modernization of its campaign structures brought the party closer than ever to governing. But by 2015, it had fallen back to the third-party spot. Were moderation and modernization the right choices after all? This incisive book provides lessons for progressive parties on how to win elections in the age of the internet, big data, and social media.

A first-hand account of how decisions to represent political parties are made.

Surveying the field of political history in Canada, one might assume that the politics of the nation have been shaped solely by the Liberal and Conservative parties. Relatively little attention has been paid to the contributions of the CCF and NDP in Canadian politics. This collection remedies this imbalance with a critical examination of the place of social democracy in Canadian history and politics. Bringing together the work of politicians, think tank members, party activists, union members, scholars, students, and social movement actors in important discussions about social democracy delving into an array of topics including municipal, provincial, and national issues, labour relations, feminism, contemporary social movements, war and society, security issues, and the media, Party of Conscience reminds Canadians of the important contributions the CCF and NDP have made to a progressive, compassionate idea of Canada.

In 2015, the New Democratic Party won an unprecedented victory in Alberta. Unseating the Progressive Conservatives -- who had won every provincial election since 1971 -- they formed an NDP government for the first time in the history of the province. Orange Chinook is the first scholarly analysis of this election. It examines the legacy of the Progressive Conservative dynasty, the PC and NDP campaigns, polling, and online politics, providing context and setting the stage. It highlights the importance of Alberta's energy sector and how it relates to provincial politics with focus on the oil sands, the carbon tax, and pipelines. Examining the NDP in power, Orange Chinook draws on Indigenous, urban, and rural perspectives to explore the transition process and government finances and politics. It explores the governing style of premier Rachel Notley, paying special attention to her response to the 2016 For McMurray wildfire and to the role of women in politics. Orange Chinook brings together Alberta's top political watchers in this fascinating, multi-faceted analysis.

Brad Lavigne was not just the campaign manager of the New Democratic Party’s 2011 breakthrough campaign that took Jack Layton from last place to Official Opposition. He was also a key architect of Layton’s overnight success that was ten years in the making. In Building the Orange Wave, Lavigne recounts the dramatic story of how Layton and his inner circle developed and executed a plan that turned a struggling political party into a major contender for government, defying the odds and the critics every step of the way. The ultimate insider’s account of one of the greatest political accomplishments in modern Canadian history, Building the Orange Wave takes readers behind the scenes, letting them eavesdrop on strategy sessions, crisis-management meetings, private chats with political opponents, and internal battles, revealing new details of some of the most important political events of the last decade.

In the 2011 general election, the New Democratic Party stunned political pundits by becoming the Official Opposition in the House of Commons. After near collapse in the 1993 election, how did the NDP manage to win triple the seats of its Liberal rivals and take more than three-quarters of the ridings in Quebec? Reviving Social Democracy examines the federal NDP’s transformation from “nearly dead party” to new power player within a volatile party system. Its early chapters – on the party’s emergence in the 1960s, its presence in Quebec, and the Jack Layton factor – pave the way for insightful analyses of issues such as party modernization, changing ideology, voter profile, and policy formation that played a significant role in driving the “Orange Crush” phenomenon. Later chapters explore such future-facing questions as the prospects of party mergers and the challenges of maintaining support in the long term.

From the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party—Jagmeet Singh—comes a personal and heartfelt story about family and overcoming adversity. In October 2017, Jagmeet Singh was elected as the first visible minority to lead a major federal political party in Canada. The historic milestone was celebrated across the nation. About a month earlier, in the lead up to his election, Jagmeet held community meet-and-greets across Canada. At one such event, a disruptive heckler in the crowd hurled accusations at him. Jagmeet responded by calmly calling for all Canadians to act with “love and courage” in the face of hate. That response immediately went viral, and people across the country began asking, “Who is Jagmeet Singh? And why ‘love and courage’?” This personal and heartfelt memoir is Jagmeet’s answer to that question. In it, we are invited to walk with him through childhood to adulthood as he learns powerful, moving, and sometimes traumatic lessons about hardship, addiction, and the impact of not belonging. We meet his strong family, including his mother, who teaches him that “we are all one; we are all connected,” a valuable lesson that has shaped who he is today. This story is not a political memoir. This is a story of family, love, and courage, and how strengthening the connection between us all is the way to building a better world.

In this volume, Nelson Wiseman skilfully describes the history of the New Democratic Party in Manitoba, tracing the roots of the social democratic movement to the years of mass immigration and social unrest that preceded the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919.Drawing extensively on personal interviews, on the private papers and correspondence of party leaders and activists, and on archival materials, Wiseman portrays clearly the party's philosophy and leadership, its organization and inner workings, its electoral support, and its relations with other parties, with labour, and with farmers.