I am entertaining the thought of voting NDP in our next election, in spite of being raised in Saskatchewan (the most Socialist of all the provinces). So, matt - convert me! Tell me why I should vote NDP, and why I shouldn’t be afraid of them bankrupting Canada. What have they got going for them that the Liberals and Conservatives don’t have?
Um… the NDP are socialist, aren’t they? Officially, even?
But if you need to be converted, you could do a lot worse than to choose matt as your agent of change. 
[sub]Me, I got it from my grandparents…[/sub]
Yup, far as I know. I mentioned living in Socialist Saskatchewan because I have had some experience with NDP leadership, and I’m not thrilled to the core with it.
In my riding, the Liberal MPP voted against same sex marriage, so this election I will vote NDP. Basic human rights and all that.
MP, not MPP. Sorry.
Hey if you live in the downtown core and vote NDP you will be voting for a guy I know. I have worked for Brian Pincott a few times, he’s a great guy and very concerned environmentally.
Hey, sorry, folks! Didn’t see this one - campaign trail and all that…
Anyhow, here’s the pitch I made on Canada AM last week. Basically, a lot of the time I hear people complain that politics isn’t relevant to what’s important to them - it’s all talk and nothing gets done.
That’s why I was really happy with the NDP over the last session of Parliament. While the other parties fought, we stepped up and took over, and turned an uninsipiring Liberal budget into $4.6 billion in investment.
Because of us, $1.6 billion is going to social housing, especially for Aboriginal communities. $1.5 billion is going to reduce tuition. $900 million is going for the environment - energy efficiency programs and public transportation. Finally, there’s $500 million in foreign aid and $100 million to protect workers’ pay when companies go bankrupt.
And this was all within a balanced budget, and all without raising taxes.
While the other parties dickered, we governed, and we brought in the best budget in 12 years. And that’s what we did with just 19 MPs. What if we had more? We could turn Parliament around. With more MPs, we’ll protect our medicare system from encroaching privatization and corporate dominance. We’ll cut greenhouse gas emissions as Canada promised when it ratified Kyoto, rather than let them rise 25% like the Liberals. We’ll cut follow up on our successes and make sure every Canadian has a decent place to live, a decent education, a decent job. We’ll cut implement Ed Broadbent’s seven-point plan on ethics and transparency in Parliament.
NDP votes elect NDP MPs, and we’ve seen in this session that more NDP MPs mean a Parliament that gets things done for Canadians.
I hope this is a good start for what you wanted to find out. I’ll be pleased to answer questions you might have; you can also check out the website at www.ndp.ca .
Thanks for the input, matt. I suspected that someone trying to get elected might be a little busy. 
Some would say that the NDP filled the role of any third party in a minority government situation (and, as we all know, there really isn’t any other Federal party - the Bloc shouldn’t even exist as a Federal party).
I think throwing money at the Aboriginal problem in Canada has been proven without a doubt to not work. The NDP are committed to continuing a process that has failed miserably?
Money for tuition - excellent. Can’t argue with that at all. Did you know that in Alberta, Klein’s government has raised the tuition in universities the maximum allowed every year?
Money for the environment sounds good - I’d have to see specifics on that. Is the NDP taking into account the tens of thousands of people in Alberta and Saskatchewan who make their money in the energy sector? (See - NEP and Trudeau.)
Good. If the feds think people haven’t noticed that Canada is doing very well financially right now, they are fools.
I think Canada’s medicare system needs a massive overhaul. All the money wasted on the gun registry should have been poured into fixing our healthcare system, but that ship has sailed. What exactly do the NDP plan to do to fix healthcare? Privatization is not a bugaboo - it might have a good place in Canada’s future.
The Kyoto Accord was foolish, premature, and ineffective. I think Canada should drop it and just work on our own plan to reduce greenhouse gases, working with the corporate sector and giving them some real incentives to actually do it.