From the artists formerly known as socialist

Here on the Farm we prefer the term “progressive”…

news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/14 … rty-books/

theglobeandmail.com/news/pol … e11185678/

The Globe article says that the NDP are removing any references to socialism in the preamble to their Constitution (last adopted in 2010) to better attract centrist voters.

Hence, “That the production and distribution of goods and services shall be directed to meeting the social and individual needs of people within a sustainable environment and economy and not to the making of profit” morphs into uplifting words about “sustainable prosperity, and a society that shares its benefits more fairly”. [Edit: on second thought those words are not that uplifting; “sustainable prosperity” is part of every party’s mantra.]

I wonder how they sanitized this gem from their Constitution:

“To modify and control the operations of the monopolistic productive and distributive organizations through economic and social planning. Towards these ends and where necessary the extension of the principle of social ownersip.”

That sounds like something written by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet circa 1954.

I think their spin doctors should do some work on this statement by Mulcair, quoted in the National Post:

“The Liberals are the ones who said there was a blue door and a red door,” Mulcair said of a line used by former leader Michael Ignatieff in the 2011 election campaign. “The answer from Canadians is don’t let the orange door hit you on the way out.”

Okay, well yes, as a centrist I think that I will take his advice and stay clear of the NDP’s orange door that might hit us.

Bullshit semantics by all.
Simple English:
If it’s 1960 and the ferry service sucks, the only viable option that’s not communist is to buy a bunch of new ferries with public money and give them to Black Ball to run and keep the profits.
And unlike a 19th ceentury opium-dazed Chinese warlord surrounded by all the battleships of the Royal Navy, sign a lease for ten times as long and end up geting back some overgrown right of way instead of a jewel in the crown.
If you want to spend your life hiding under the bed from the socialist bogeyman jump on the ferry headed north to the land of the like-minded. There aren’t any in Canada unless you’re SO neo-con you believe the candy-asses that are today’s NDP count.