Heather McPherson’s appointment as NDP foreign critic is morally and tactically dubious.
Last week new leader Avi Lewis gave McPherson a position that she held over the past five years during which time she generally backed the Liberals’ US empire aligned policy. She’s a member of the NATO Parliamentary Association, close to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, attended a CIA-influenced Trilateral Commission forum and has repeatedly spoken with Irwin Cotler.
It’s hard to see how McPherson would deliver the policy shift Lewis’ campaign promised. She represents continuity at a time of immense upheaval in international and military affairs. When has there been a more important time or greater opportunity for the NDP to articulate an independent, internationalist and even anti-imperialist outlook?
Disapproval of the US and Israel is at unprecedented levels. A recent Leger poll found that only 22% of Canadians have a favourable opinion of Israel while the Globe and Mail recently reported, “more Canadians view the United States unfavourably than ever.” Seventy-four percent have a negative view of the US while 21% view the US favourably. A recent POLITICO poll found that Canadians prefer to depend on China over Donald Trump’s US by a margin of 57% to 23%.
Still, Mark Carney’s government has maintained a stridently pro-US geopolitical posture (they have sought to diversify economically). Carney also continues to align with Israel.
Aggressively demarcating the NDP from the Liberals and Conservatives on international affairs would be popular. And it may be an area where Lewis has a freer hand to be bold. A ‘conservatizing’ pressure Lewis faces are provincial NDP leaders. Despite overt hostility from ecocidal provincial NDP leaders in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Lewis has sought to avoid conflict.
In a sign of his desire to avoid any provincial clash, Lewis sidestepped a question about legislation Indigenous leaders have labelled an “absolute betrayal” that “smacks of colonialism.” During his first parliamentary press conference last week Lewis was asked if he thought BC NDP leader David Eby’s move to weaken the Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) was the “wrong decision”. He simply responded, “I think they’re having a debate in British Columbia and we’re focused on the federal level.” (Avi could have simply stated, “I support BC’s pioneering DRIPA and believe many NDP supporters in the province and outside do as well.”)
If stepping on the (colonialist or extractivist) toes of provincial NDP leaders is tricky for Lewis than why not use international affairs to throw a bone to the left. As I’ve noted, he should call to upend Canada’s extensive military ties to a country headed by an annexationist president. He could also call for an audit of Canada’s international intelligence sharing arrangements with the US and push to withdraw from US-dominated international bodies like the Core Group in Haiti.
About 550 individuals have emailed Lewis calling on him to reassess McPherson’s appointment as foreign critic. But he’s unlikely to act unless sectors of the left activist base who won him the leadership start publicly complaining, which hasn’t transpired. Left activists are more likely to lionize him than hold his feet to the fire.
Leftists unwillingness to treat Lewis as a politician is an absurd strategy. After having just won a huge mandate and control of the party structure, Lewis is as solid in his position as he’s likely to be for a long time (until he significantly boosts the NDP seat total in an election). While it’s good to defend him from ecocidal provincial leaders, Zionists and the capitalist press, there’s no need to circle the wagon as Lewis is not in any way vulnerable.
Still, those who effectively argued during the leadership campaign for ‘no left criticism of Lewis since it might hurt his chance of winning the race’ seem to have morphed towards a ‘let’s not pressure Lewis because he’s better than Singh’ position. I’m genuinely curious to see how long left activist Avi supporters will continue with this type of position.
McPherson’s appointment as NDP foreign critic portends poorly for a truly left Lewis’ leadership.
Please email new leader Lewis to ask him to reevaluate his appointment of Heather McPherson as NDP foreign critic.
