Posts Tagged ‘Ontario NDP Leadership Convention’
Laforet.ca's NDP Leadership Convention Coverage Begins
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
3 Comments »John Laforet's Sit Down Interview with NDP Leadership Candidate and MPP Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath is definitely an impressive politician. She kicked off her campaign later than others, and has been viewed by many as the under dog, but quite possibly could surprise a lot of folks in Hamilton. She is well spoken, passionate and her life story represents the right reasons for entering public life. As in 2004 when Horwath won the seat of Hamilton East and restored party status to the NDP, she brings a sense of renewal to this race as well.
She is strong with labour which should help her with the 25% of the vote designated to NDP member labour affiliates and her endorsement from the Toronto Star might encourage the folks in the 416 (of which a considerable chunk of the NDP membership resides) to consider Horwath. She enjoys more caucus support than any of the other candidates as well, adding an additional dimension.
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1 Comment »John Laforet's Sit Down Interview With NDP Leadership Candidate and MPP Gilles Bisson
Gilles Bisson is an outlier in NDP Leadership race. If one were to play the “one of these things is not like the other” game, at least in the context of this race, that one would likely be Gilles Bisson. This isn’t necessarily good or bad, and I’m not attempting to say there aren’t differences between the other candidates, but perhaps with Bisson the differences are more pronounced.
Bisson represents the riding of Timmins James Bay – a riding that covers 25% of the land mass of the province of Ontario. His opponents all represent urban ridings in southern Ontario. Bisson is the only candidate seeking the leadership who does not have previous experience as a municipal politician. He is the only candidate to first gain entrance to the Legislative Assembly through a general election. Bisson also is the longest serving of the NDP MPPs seeking the leadership and the only one who was in caucus when the NDP government was in place. I’m not sure any of this is good or bad, just aspects of who Bisson is and what he brings to the table.
Jeff Hume continues to be a gentleman and a scholar 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.
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