Friday, August 14, 2009

Broadbent: No On Name Change

After unleashing scathing rhetoric, directed at the other parties, Ed Broadbent offered his opinion on the proposed NDP name change:
The NDP will vote this weekend on modernizing its image by re-naming itself simply the Democratic Party. Mr. Broadbent said that would be a mistake.

"I think the name of the party is the NDP isn't it?" He asked delegates, to some applause.

"People want us to be focusing on real concerns, not symbols," he added. "(Founding leader) Tommy Douglas once said, the New Democratic Party will remain the New Democratic Party as long as New York remains New York, and I think that's a long time."

Real issues, not symbols. I wonder if Broadbent's opinion will carry much weight, I suspect it might.

Maybe Ed was reviewing his french translation(pede- Comes from the word Pederaste-a man who has sexual relations with a boy- and is considered derogatory):
Jack Layton has remained coy on the topic, but talk of a possible name change for the federal NDP generated growing buzz _ and in some cases outright bewilderment _ as the party opened its convention Friday in Halifax. Layton has played down the significance of a movement afoot to drop the word ``New'' from the NDP, but if approved, the new moniker could be embarrassing for the party, particularly in Quebec. Now abbreviated as the NPD in the province, the party faces the prospect of becoming known as the PD _ initials that sound like ``pede,'' a derogatory term for a homosexual derived from the French word ``pederaste.'' Several delegates expressed concerns that the proposed name change could prove an awkward sell in a seat-rich province.

Nothing says "breakthrough" in Quebec like envoking derogatory imagery.

4 comments:

DL said...

I can't believe people are actually taking this whole name change thing seriously. First of all there isn't even a resolution coming to the floor at the convention calling for dropping the "N" in "NDP". The only resolution up for debate is one calling for the party to launch a three year process to investigate the possibility of a name change to something else (with no mention of what that something else might be). That resolution probably won't pass anyways. There have been resolutions about changing the name of the NDP at just about every NDP convention in the past 20 years - why its getting so much media play this time is a mystery. Oh well, there is no such a thing as "bad" publicity.

Patrick Ross said...

Ed Broadbent did a lot of great things for the NDP. If the party is wise, it will at least listen to him before making its decision.

RuralSandi said...

I don't understandy why the NDP are afraid of a name the "honestly" reflects who they are?

Britain has not problem having a Labour Party and it did well under Blair.

Layton wrote an op-ed about a "change in politics" - geez, where have I heard that before - oh ya, OBAMA.

What's wrong with Labour Democratic Party, or Social Democratic Party - that would be closer to the truth.

Patrick Ross said...

Jack Layton clearly wants to be Barack Obama rather badly. I think that's at least partially what's motivating the push for a name change.