Recent Activities
In 2011, the Socialist Caucus proposed resolutions at that year's federal NDP convention to oppose the Alberta Tar Sands, legalize marijuana, boycott “apartheid Israel,” repeal the Clarity Act and nationalize auto, bank and insurance companies. In the wake of the NDP's breakthrough in the 2011 federal election in which they won over 100 seats and formed Official Opposition in the House of Commons for the first time, Socialist Caucus chair Barry Weisleder told the Globe and Mail that “the election on May 2 sent a very clear message: the voters rejected the Liberal Party and the NDP should not strive to become a substitute Liberal Party. That’s the road to ruin,” adding that “To survive, the NDP has to turn left and offer Canadians and in particular working people, an alternative to the corporate agenda.” The faction also opposed a motion to remove the phrase "democratic socialism" from the preamble of the NDP's constitution and supported an unsuccessful resolution to bar the NDP from considering merger with the Liberal Party of Canada. None of the resolutions proposed by the Socialist Caucus received enough support to reach the floor of the convention for debate.
The Socialist Caucus publishes a newspaper named Turn Left, edited by Sean Cain, for each federal and Ontario provincial NDP convention. Beginning with the 2011 NDP convention issue, the publication took the form of a magazine.
In September 2011, Caucus chair Barry Weisleder won the nomination to be the Ontario NDP's candidate in Thornhill in the 2011 provincial election. Within 48 hours, the party's provincial secretary rescinded the nomination without explanation.
Read more about this topic: New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus
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