Danielle Smith has a lot of balls in the air right now and is juggling a myriad of issues while establishing herself in new role as Alberta’s premier. One statement went virtually unnoticed from Smith’s speech on the night of her leadership victory, and it gives an indication of where she plans to go with the general election in spring 2023..Smith referenced the Trudeau/Singh/Notley coalition in Ottawa. It wasn’t just a cheap shot at Notley in trying to tie her to an unpopular federal government. What Smith is pointing out is that the NDP constitution makes Notley subservient to Jagmeet Singh and the NDP hates it when that is brought up..The NDP is like no other party in Canada, in that there is only one central party that has provincial wings. It is impossible to take out a membership with a provincial wing of the NDP because it automatically forces you to become a member of the federal party whether you like it or not. That is because technically, it is one big central entity that manages provincial branches of its party..You can join any Liberal or Conservative provincial party in Canada without being a member of the federal parties. The provincial parties are completely independent. Unlike the NDP..According to the NDP constitution:.“1. Each province of Canada shall have a fully autonomous provincial Party, provided its constitution and principles are not in conflict with those of the Federal Party. “.The statement is in conflict with itself. If the provincial parties can’t differ in principles or constitutionally from the federal party, they are not fully autonomous at all..“2. In the event of dispute as to whether any particular organization is or is not a provincial Party in good standing, the Federal Council of the Party is empowered to rule on whether an organization shall continue to be a provincial Party, subject to appeal to Convention.”.The second statement empowers the federal party to remove party status from provincial parties should it choose to. No other federal party can do that..Rachel Notley isn’t so much the leader of an autonomous party as she is a branch manager of a local outlet. When push comes to shove, she has to answer to the federal party..This is important. If (for example) the Trudeau/Singh coalition decided to bring in another national energy program and grab for Alberta’s resources, Rachel Notley would not be able to oppose the action without risking her party’s status because it would be in conflict with the federal party. Would Notley allow her party to lose status as part of the NDP or would she stand up for Albertans?.When push comes to shove therefore, a vote for Notley is a vote for Jagmeet Singh. It’s of little wonder that NDP supporters react so vehemently when this reality is pointed out. If enough Albertans realized this, Notley’s electoral chances would surely be jeopardized. In this province, Singh is only a little more popular than Trudeau..The NDP constitution also empowers unions to the point where local party leaders are beholden to them. In Alberta, Gil McGowan’s Alberta Federation of Labour and its associates are all guaranteed spots on the NDP provincial board. No other party forces parties to have representatives of lobby groups on their provincial boards. They elect their board members..Party constitutions are dry affairs and they never come up during elections. The NDP constitution is worth looking at though, because it transfers so much power from provincial leaders to the federal entity and to local union representatives. We need premiers who can act independently and that’s impossible with the NDP. This wasn’t quite so much of an issue when the Liberals had a majority, but now that Trudeau is in bed with Singh in Parliament, Notley’s ability to independently represent Alberta is questionable..The constitution is consistent with the nature of socialist politics. Socialism always demands centralized power. It can’t sustain itself if regions can opt out. Socialism also demands strong power structures and hierarchies. Notley lands quite a few spaces down from the top on that party totem pole..The Sovereignty Act, health care reforms, spending and energy development will all surely be hot issues in the next general election..Let’s hope the NDP’s power structure continues to be mentioned as well..As long as Alberta’s NDP retains its constitution, a vote for Notley is a vote for Jagmeet Singh.
