John Laforet » NDP Leadership Convention

Andrea Horwath’s Victory and It’s Meaning to Ontario

John Laforet — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:53:09 +0000

I have to say I genuinely enjoyed the time I spent covering the NDP Leadership race, interacting with the candidates, party officials and the campaign teams. As someone who has been involved in Liberal party politics I thought I would have a sense of what was going on, but ultimately my experience didn’t translate because the internal dynamic is so different.

The internal politics of the Liberal Party of Canada frequently gets nasty and personal and the rules and procedures are more so tools for determining who has the upper hand and less about ensuring a fair and engaging process. Controversial but true. The NDP process is focused on engaging individual members of the party in the process and ensuring that barriers to participation are brought down. When the President of the Ontario NDP introduced the convention’s Harassment officers, I sensed the tone would be very different and it was. It was clear it was a fair race and all four campaigns felt it too.

The NDP process did two things which are important to every party. The first was ensuring grassroots participation. Using a weighted one member, one vote system the NDP allowed every party member to more or less have an equal voice (I say more or less because card carrying NDP members who are also part of the labour affiliates are part of a weighted vote that sees their total reflect 25% of the final vote). Members were given the ability to vote by mail, online, by phone or in person at the convention. By mail, voters would use STV voting to rank the candidates and mail in the ballot by the first couple days in March. They could check online to see if it was recieved, and if not they could use another method of voting. From talking to staff at the NDP party office, mail was expected to be the most popular option of voting. The NDP also allowed party members to phone in their votes at pre-determined times for each round in addition to allowing individual round by round voting online. Delegates at the convention and at home all used a web interface to vote, although delegate were also using personal smart phones to vote online and could also vote by phone using a cell or a payphone. Folks at home could even watch the convention streaming online. Delegates and media were using twitter as well to share what was happening on the floorl. An impressive 50% of the party membership participated in the process.

After watching this play out, any hesitations or hang ups I previously had about one member, one vote are now entirely diminished (although during the final days of the last attempted Liberal Leadership race, I was pretty much there). The NDP used four voting processes and there did not appear to be any technical issues or delays.

There was a sense that Horwath had momentum, but as someone who was trying to provide unbiased reporting of the convention and the candidates, I was not prepared to throw punditry into my coverage and frankly cautious about calling it for her because the unknown effect mail in ballots would have on her late building momentum. The fact that it was her home town also complicated gauging her real level of support. I thought she would be second or more likely third on the 1st ballot and win out in the end, but was surprised when she was first, even with mail ins being such a large chunk of the vote.

Horwath’s victory is important because above all she won it the right way. She was not the front runner or the heir apparent or the first one out the gate, but she is well organized and a compelling figure. She inspired people to follow her, and they did. Her campaign had a series of very high profile endorsements that they rolled out very late but in quick succession. This built momentum leading to the convention that was in her hometown (her riding even) and on the floor her volunteers were the most relentless at campaigning, cheering and being generally excited. They were younger, had a higher proportion of women and were from the labour wing of the party.

Horwath excited New Democrats and has brought an experienced by fresh face to the NDP. She has become leader of the NDP the day after John Tory stepped down, leaving the Progressive Conservatives without a leader and their heavy hitters all likely to apply. This presents an opportunity for Horwath to establish herself as a credible, compelling, competent party leader and McGuinty’s main rival in the legislature.

She and her opponents all understood that the economy was going to be the make or break for the Liberals and each of them articulated their position on the economy in a very people focused way. For Horwath’s part she tied the economy to social realities well and framed her arguments around the economy through their impact on people whether workers or others in society. An example of this was her use of investment in light rail transit infrastructure as a means of both economic stimulus and a ‘buy in Ontario’ policy. Her explanation of ‘buy in Ontario’ as a concept was such that it would be hard to disagree must past throwing out a fear of protectionism in the market place.

I have to say, I support iron ore mined in Ontario becoming Ontario steel, and that steel being used to build light rail cars in Ontario and the tracks that Ontario workers would lay to improve our urban transit infrastructure. She and I spoke about it on and off camera in some detail and as a guy who would love to see Toronto, but especially Scarborough’s transit improved, who would like the provincial and federal governments to help pay for it, trying to cycle that investment through our economy as many times as possible seems only reasonable.

You can call it whatever you want, and I too worry about the impacts of a possible trade war or protectionism in other jurisdictions but am fairly certain of two things, the first is the average voter won’t care about the impacts of protectionism if they are afraid of losing their job or have; two, single industry towns and cities across Ontario can actually be helped through something like this and those who live in those places recognize it.

The NDP has the opportunity to really build over the next couple of years as the Government will no doubt struggle to manage the fall out of the financial crisis and at the very least the NDP sounds credible on the economy and has used this race to play that up. With the right messaging and organization, Horwath could go far and at the very least is likely to shake things up a bit and add some excitement to both her party and politics in Ontario more generally.

My take is when she begins to travel the province and really take McGuinty up in Question Period, Ontarians will get to know her and will like what they see, even if they are unsure about voting NDP or maybe don’t agree with what she is saying. Horwath impressed me as someone who was running for the best possible reasons and someone who legitimately was not a politican in the traditional sense, but someone who could use what comes with political involvement as tools for social improvement.

A Collection of Andrea Horwath Videos

John Laforet — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:46:30 +0000

This is my last post on the Ontario NDP Leadership race. It includes the three Andrea Horwath videos that were part of laforet.ca’s coverage of the Ontario NDP Leadership race. I thought I would put them in a single location to make life easier for folks who are now interested in finding out more about the NDP’s new leader.

I never did publicly congratulate Ms. Horwath (although before shooting the final video with her, I told her off camera I thought she had it locked). I will take the opportunity to do so now.

For me, it has been a very interesting process. I am not a New Democrat, and have never voted NDP before. My motivation to cover this race was due to a lack of proper media coverage of the dozen debates, and six month leadership process by traditional media sources. At first I felt they had a responsibility to cover it, and then I felt I had an opportunity to cover it and now looking back, I’m not sure things like this can’t be adequately covered by an army of new media types who display a similar level of ethics for the purpose of their coverage. Even if they can’t, it appears folks in new media may have a responsibility to become original content generators, should they like to see things like this covered well in the future. I hope those who have viewed the work of Jeff Hume and I agree that we’ve done an even handed job.

If you want to embed these videos into your own blog/website or are interested in seeing the other videos that we shot as part of our coverage of the NDP race visit http://laforetdotca.blip.tv

Andrea Horwath Interview In Between Final Speech and First Ballot Results (Run Time 2:25)

Andrea Horwath Rally – Night Before Victory (Run Time 3:19)

Andrea Horwath Sit Down Interview – Late February 2009 (Run Time 16:47)

Ontario NDP Leadership Convention Update

John Laforet — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:58:26 +0000

We’ve been running around the convention today trying to get final interviews with each of the candidates. Two down, two to go. I’ve also had some interesting conversations with campaigns regarding their ‘get out the vote’ efforts and have some very neat footage of one candidate showing us some of their technology.

Right now, as we wait on the final campaigns for those segments, I’m sitting with Jeff working on a video of Andrea Horwath’s rally last night. Check back soon for that.

I will be in the room for candidate speeches, except as I need to leave for interviews. Check the twitter box to the right for regular updates from there. I will also be twittering or ‘tweeting’ the results.

We’re hoping to get some delegate interviews in as well.

Whereas last night I remarked how enjoyable a convention can be when you’re not involved in any campaigns or voting for anyone – it turns out this is as much work as all the stuff that campaigns find themselves doing on the floor.

Once again, I’d like to thank the NDP for their openness and the candidates for their availability.

Posted from the floor from my smart phone.

Ontario NDP Leadership Convention Emergency Resolution on Stelco Layoffs

John Laforet — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:55:28 +0000

This afternoon the NDP passed an emergency resolution in response to the US Steel layoffs in Hamilton and Nanticoke. Below is a video of the NDP’s four leadership candidate’s response to the resolution and the text of the motion itself.

“Emergency Resolution – US Steel Shutdown

WHEREAS US Steel announced on March 3 that the former Stelco steel mills in Hamilton and Nanticoke would be shut down for the first time in their century-long history; and

WHEREAS this will cost the jobs of at least 1,500 workers directly and potentially thousands more in the surrounding communities; and

WHEREAS this is just the latest blow in the manufacturing crisis that has cost hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ontario while the McGuinty Liberal government failed to take effective action;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Ontario New Democratic Party will stand shoulder to shoulder with the affected workers and their families as they fight to keep their jobs; and will

Demand that the McGuinty and Harper governments take immediate action to explore alternatives to keep the Hamiliton and Nanticoke plants open; and

Call on the Federal government to reform Employment Insurance to expand eligibility and benefits, including eliminating the two-week waiting period; and

Demand expansion of the Harper government’s inadequate stimulus package , inclding effective “Buy Canada” provisions, to produce a stronger and faster boost to the Canadian economy; and

Will fight for broader provisions in the Investment Canada Act to protect Canadian jobs for tougher enforcement of commitments made by foreign investors.

ONDP Provincial Executive”

Posted from the floor.

Laforet.ca's NDP Leadership Convention Coverage Begins

John Laforet — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:59:47 +0000

Jeff Hume and I have arrived onsite at the Hamilton Convention Centre to cover the NDP leadership race. We are doing so from the prospective of informed non New Democrats. We’ve had the opportunity to meet with each of the NDP candidates and get a sense of who they are and what they stand for.

I want to comment first and foremost on how open and transparent the NDP process has been. I have been very impressed with the openness of each campaign to schedule time to sit with us, party official’s availability to provide us with information about process and how the structure for the race was set, and the ease with which we were accredited as media for the convention.

The plan as it stands right now is to use video, blog entries and twitter to provide information from the convention floor to folks around Ontario who are interested in who the next leader of the NDP is. We plan on highlighting the key policy debates New Democrats have this weekend in addition to the leadership race as well.

One of the benefits about self published reporting is the ability to provide a greater depth to coverage. As non New Democrats this is enhanced by the facts that we can approach the race without the intense emotions anyone who has been actively involved in a leadership campaign feels at a juncture like this.

I hope you enjoy the coverage and will be reading emails on my blackberry throughout the convention so please feel free to provide commentary and advice either in the comments section or by email at john.laforet@laforet.ca

John Laforet’s Sit Down Interview with Ontario NDP Leadership Candidate and MPP Michael Prue

John Laforet — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:18:05 +0000

I want to start by saying I had a lot of fun talking to Michael Prue. He is an excellent story teller and very engaging speaker. When speaking with Prue, we spoke a lot about his background, how that has shaped him and what he would like to do for Ontario as Leader of the NDP and candidate for Premier in 2011. His interview the longest I believe and probably the most light hearted. Enjoy.

Part 1 – Prue The Man

Part 2 – Prue The Candidate

Once again, I’d like to thank Jeff Hume for his most excellent work behind the camera and in all the production related matters for this video. We will endevour to put these videos on youtube when time permits as well.

In order to embed these videos on your own site, simply copy the code below for each video wherever desired. For a different size adjust the width and height options in the code.

Part 1

Part 2

You can also download these videos directly as .mp4 files from the following links: Video 1 – Prue The Man and Part 2 – Prue The Candidate.

You can subscribe to Laforet.ca videos as a podcast from the following links using iTunes or RSS.

John Laforet's Sit Down Interview with NDP Leadership Candidate and MPP Peter Tabuns

John Laforet — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:22:18 +0000

Peter Tabuns is an interesting guy to say the least. He is ballsy which is something I admire in a politician. He isn’t afraid of a principled fight, but doesn’t go out seeking them. He’s won some, lost some but always found opportunity to continue his work, even in defeat. From talking to him, it also became clear he has a strong sense of what he thinks is the right thing to do, and deals the repercussions as they come. The ‘New Energy Economy’ is a plan that calls for a major re-tooling of industry in Ontario, and regardless of one’s support for the plan it is comprehensive, bold and a gamble.

As Bisson is an outlier if background were the determinant, so too is Tabuns an outlier in regards to policy.

Jeff Hume’s work behind the camera and in all the production related matters for this video has been fantastic. We will endeavor to put these videos on youtube when time permits as well.

In order to embed this video on your own site, simply copy the code below wherever desired. For a different size adjust the width and height options in the code.

Changing Gears For a Few Days – From Green Energy Act to the Ontario NDP Leadership Convention

John Laforet — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:45:40 +0000

Random I know, but planned, at least on my part. In Early February, I became concerned with the fact that the Ontario NDP Leadership race was not being properly covered by the media and that Ontario residents had limited opportunity to find out who the contenders for the NDP leadership were. While the NDP is the third party, in a majority parliament and in theory have a limited role to play in governing Ontario, the leader of the NDP will be running for Premier in 2011 and traditionally the NDP leader does play a large role in holding the government to account, like them or not.

So on February 6th I contacted each of the NDP campaigns and requested an on camera sit down interview with each of them. All agreed. Today we wrapped up the last interview and the video production is underway. The plan is to roll out one of these conversations each day for four days with some of my thoughts in text as well. I’m not a New Democrat, and have never voted for the NDP, but have to say I found these conversations to be extremely interesting and hope you enjoy them as well.

The Ontario NDP Leadership convention is being held in Hamilton March 6-8 and the plan as of now is to provide video and written coverage of the convention as well.

download Code 46

The Green Energy Act stuff heated up on February 10th when I did my first media interview on the Premier’s use of “NIMBY” to slur Scarborough residents. It is a deeply important issue and has certainly sucked me into what is a serious fight for democratic rights and environmental protection in our province. I will be back on the Green Energy Act early next week. Until then, I encourage you to write Minister Smitherman, Premier McGuinty and your local MPP. Call on them to recognize the need for proper environmental assessments for renewable energy projects, to require setbacks to be set by citizens and experts – not the wind industry, and to remove the anti democratic ‘reverse onus’ clause. Of course there are many other issues, but each of these is a good start and it is completely indefensible for the government to move forward with their current position on these issues.

download Gunfight at the O.K. Corral