On selective coverage

It's certainly a plus that the NDP has been receiving headline press from multiple sources today - for Jack Layton's CBC interview, the resulting CP coverage which received prominent placement on numerous news sites, and the National Post's own story (despite its apocalyptic headline and opening paragraph). But it's worth noting how weak an impetus there was for the coverage compared to some more significant NDP stories which were largely ignored over the last year.

Much of the newfound focus seems to be based on the erroneous view (surprisingly bought into by at least some Dipper supporters) that the NDP is more "relevant" based on Wajid Khan's floor-crossing, which allows for the prospect that the NDP and the Cons could pass any agreed legislation with no support from a single Lib, Bloc or independent MP.

Now, it's problematic enough that the coverage being given to the NDP is arising more out of an external event than out of the Dippers' own activities. But it's not clear why the new arithmetic would matter at all on the main issue where there's talk of cooperation.

After all, it was always possible for legislation to pass with the support of only the NDP, the Cons and one or both of the current independents. And given that one of those independents is a former Con who has criticized the Cons' lack of environmental action, was there ever much risk that an environment plan which managed to bridge the gap between the NDP and the Cons would fail to pick up that extra vote?

In other words, the only real impact of Khan's crossing the floor is to ensure that if the NDP and the Cons can agree on an environmental bill, there's a slightly lower incremental risk of such a bill failing to pass. And it's far from certain that it'll even be possible to agree on legislation to begin with given PMS' refusal to work toward Canada's Kyoto commitments.

In contrast, the NDP has received precious little press attention for its important contributions to Canadian politics over the last year, including its Kyoto plan, its Early Learning and Child Care Act, its call for a national pharmacare program, and its successes in helping to reverse some of the Cons' most damaging cuts. And it shouldn't be difficult to see that more coverage of the Dippers' action on those issues would have led to a much different storyline than one now being put forward.

For now, hopefully the current position in the limelight will help the NDP to push its poll numbers back in the right direction. But that's only the first step in ensuring that the NDP is able to help push for progressive policies which can lead to real improvement in the lives of Canadians. And contrary to how the media has covered the NDP over the past year, those policies should make for a far more important story than the political fallout from a single floor crossing.