NDP puts its flawed unity policy on the table for 2015 election

You might say I was against the NDP’s Sherbrooke Declaration before it was cool. Having somewhat of an interest in the unity of Canada, I’ve long been aware of the emptiness of NDP policy when it comes to handling the unthinkable but not implausible – a referendum on a province leaving confederation – and their duplicitous habit of saying one thing in Quebec, and one thing in the rest of Canada.

For some time, they played this two-faced game. In Quebec, they declared Sherbrooke was their policy. In the “rest of Canada” they claimed fidelity to the Clarity Act. And, when challenged, they claimed there was no contradiction between the two – a position easily exposed as utter nonsense.

Nearly two years ago I outlined at length how the two positions were contradictory, I invite you to read that post for the background. Needless to say, whenever I’d bring up their conflicting positions on the unity file, NDPers would accuse me of dredging up dead and irrelevant issues, that by winning seats in Quebec they’d killed separatism forever, and talking about it would only lead to the end of all life as we know it.

Until, I suppose, when they want to talk about it:

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has waded into the national unity swamp, with proposed legislation specifying that a bare majority Yes vote would be sufficient to trigger negotiations on Quebec’s secession from Canada.

New Democrat MP Craig Scott tabled Monday what his party is dubbing the “unity bill.”

The bill would repeal the Clarity Act — introduced by former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien after Quebecers came within a hair of voting to secede in 1995 — and replace it with legislation which Mulcair maintained would provide more certainty and be more respectful of Quebecers.

I will credit the NDP for one thing – they have ended their two-faced wishy-washiness on the Clarity Act vs. the Sherbrooke Declaration: they are against the Clarity Act, full stop. It’s probably the most significant policy shift the NDP has made since Tom Mulcair took over for the late Jack Layton.

Unfortunately, it’s a completely irresponsible and just plain wrong position un-befitting of a party propposing itself as ready to govern all of Canada. You need a 2/3s vote to amend the NDP constitution, but they will let the separatists break up Canada with 50 per cent plus one. That’s irresponsible in the extreme.

And who is opening a dead issue now? The Clarity Act has been the law of the land for nearly 13 years. The federalist vote in Quebec increased after its passage. Is there anyone clamoring for its repeal, other than the Bloc Quebecois, and perhaps the former sovereigntists in Mulcair’s Quebec caucus?

I don’t think so. Nevertheless, Mulcair and the NDP seem to want to make this a national issue, given that the bill was tabled by a Toronto MP, Craig Scott (Toronto-Danforth). So, speaking as one Liberal and just for himself (though I’m sure I’m not alone) I’m happy to take him up on his generous offer.

Now that Mr. Mulcair has given us his blessing, I’m looking forward to the 2015 election, where we can talk across Canada about the NDP’s belief that Canada can dissolve our confederation with one scant vote. I think that will be a most interesting debate that voters in Toronto-Danforth, and across *all* of Canada, will be very interested in.

So thank-you, Mr. Mulcair. I’m looking forward to it.

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