Resolution Reading List

The NDP have released the first document of resolutions to be voted on at the convention. This is not all of them, mind you, just the "top ten" from each of the 7 topic areas (delegates will be split up and only vote on one set). They come in four flavors. First, there's left-wing goal setting of the vaguest and least controversial order - there's a resolution on eliminating violence against women, as though passing an NDP resolution will help on that goal, another on strengthening multiculturalism, one on protecting public land and water, etc. Then there's measures to bolster the social safety net, with a strong emphasis on veterans, former RCMP officers and families. There's also some interest group politicking by farmers, Atlantic shipbuilders and others, who offer remarkably specific proposals to amend the party program. And finally, there's one-issue resolutions, some on relatively hot topics (the InSite program in Vancouver) and some somewhat obscure (a ban on tankers sailing along the interior passage around Queen Charlotte Sound). We'll see how this all adds up, and if anyone will actually vote against stopping violence against women. My guess is no.