On distinction

I've noted before that we shouldn't be too quick to assume that general electoral trends will overcome the strength of NDP incumbents in particular. But it certainly doesn't bode well that the party's plan seemed to have been based on the hope that the main issue on voters' minds could be entirely ignored:

When Singh’s campaign arrived in Hamilton — a city which prides itself on being known as Canada’s Steeltown — the NDP leader faced questions about whether he “missed the moment” by not making tariff-specific policy proposals or visiting a factory floor.

Party staff told journalists they expected media coverage to focus on Singh’s economic policies and did not think tariffs would dominate so much of the discussion.

In effect, the NDP's plan for a long-anticipated election seems to have mirrored the strategy from the much-lamented 1988 campaign in looking to wave away the primary issue on the public's mind - with the added problem that this time, the party couldn't plausibly have thought it had an advantage in leadership favourability to justify that choice of focus. 

Now, it might be fair to say that there's room to push the focus beyond tariffs alone. And I'd argue that the NDP's best chance to differentiate itself from the Libs remains the ability to call attention to the fact that the Trump regime poses additional threats beyond its impact on bankers' profits. 

Since Mark Carney was elected the Libs' leader, U.S. states have been taking steps to declare existence as a trans person to be illegal.

The Trump regime has gone out of its way to disappear people for exercising free speech. And we've learned that Canada has been involved in at least one instance of immigration detention, as the application of Canadian immigration policy as usual led to Rebecca Burke's being seized.

And the Trump regime's attacks on education and science have continued apace, with weather and climate science ranking among the areas where the U.S.' denialism will have international implications.

The Libs have done little to address those and other developments that bear more on human rights and public interests as opposed to corporate profits. And there's still some time to highlight the fact that we're far outside the realm of what's normal in those areas too - and need strong NDP representation to protect interests going beyond trade. 

Unfortunately, it sounds like the NDP has wasted far too much time sticking to a predetermined domestic platform, rather than what's right in principle or likely to resonate in a Trump-dominated news environment. And the result may be significant losses both in terms of seats, and in terms of Canada's overall response to Trump.