Who else?

As I wrote yesterday (and if you’re a left leaning Canadian you already knew), the New Democratic Party was almost wiped out in the last federal election. It has been reduced to seven Members of Parliament: Three from British Columbia, one from Alberta, one from Manitoba, one from Quebec and one from Nunavut. That’s it.

A question I would have liked to ask Avi Lewis the other day, but did not have a chance to, is this: Which one of those seven MPs, who managed to keep their seats when all about them fell by the wayside is he planning to ask to fall on their sword to open up a “safe” NDP seat for him to run in? (I can tell you this for nothing, Jenny Kwan sure as hell wouldn’t do it. Not sure about the others.)

Okay, if not Avi for leader of the NDP, who else might it be? In addition to him there are four other official candidates:

• A union leader from BC
• A First Nations activist from British Columbia
• An MP from Alberta
• A retired farmer from Ontario

Notice anything that appears in both lists? Yes, an MP from Alberta. You don’t get many NDP MPs in Alberta. This one’s name is Heather McPherson. My partner voiced an interest in her campaign when we were on our way to hear Avi Lewis speak. To which I replied: “I wish Charlie Angus was running.”

Sadly for Parliament (but happily for the resistance movement), Charlie decided not to run in the last federal election. I’d vote for him if he was running for the leadership, but he isn’t. (I think he’s having too much fun telling it like it is on Substack.)

Still, I was curious to know what he had to say about the leadership race. And now I know.

And there you go, folks, he hits the nail on the head.

THIS IS NOT AN ENTRY-LEVEL POSITION.

So, let’s have a proper look at Heather McPherson. Honestly, it’s not all that easy. She does not have a great online presence, but if you dig a little you find that she’s got some pretty good credentials, both domestic and foreign.

She’s been outspoken and really quite effective on the plight of Palestinians in general and the carnage in Gaza in particular. I do encourage you to find out more about her work on this issue by reading this article.

More recently, she’s. taken the government to task over the number of Canadian companies benefiting from contracts with the infamous ICE.

Sounds like my kinda gal.

AND if she won, no one would have to fall on their sword, because she’s already an elected Member of Parliament.

Would she be a strong leader for the NDP? I don’t know, but I’m prepared to take the word of Charlie Angus.

Does she have a chance of winning the leadership race? I don’t know. Avi, who doesn’t have to divide his time between a job as an MP and his leadership bid, is running a pretty slick game. But maybe, just maybe the membership who will be voting for the leader will pause to consider the question of whether or not this is an entry-level position.

We shall see.