Jagmeet Singh and the NDP sit in the shadow of the Liberal Government, caught between criticizing those in power while also attempting to claim agency over bills being passed.

Today, the NDP sits in the shadow of the Liberal government, caught between criticizing those in power while also attempting to claim agency over bills being passed. Most peculiar of all has been Singh’s retreat from online spaces. In 2023, he deactivated his TikTok account citing privacy concerns, but the shift in the tone of his content went beyond that.

His once fresh, relatable, curtain-tearing content had been replaced by generic campaign videos of Singh reading scripts word-for-word that feel like they were copied directly from the platform section of the NDP website. It became boring, uninspired and — most importantly — ineffective. Polls now project a loss of seats for the NDP in the next election.

One thing is for certain: we are closer to a Singh exit than we are from his arrival. Come October, he will have been party leader for seven years — he will certainly not be leader in seven years. So, has his choice to abandon his online roots damaged the future of his party?

Whatever the future of the NDP holds and whoever its next leader will be, it is clear that it remains a party in desperate need of reimagination — the exact same issue that Singh was brought in to solve.

  • Pilferjinx@lemmy.world
    2·
    18 days ago

    I want to agree with you wholeheartedly but I think the vast majority of voters don’t even know a candidate/party’s platform and especially those policy’s intended effects. Basically, it’s a popularity contest on how the leadership is perceived. I wish it was different because the NDP has by far the best platform for most Canadians

    • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      18 days ago

      So we can’t get the governance we need and deserve because we’re too apathetic and disengaged from governance. The facts of the situation aren’t enough to motivate voters so you want to (if stated uncharitably) trick them into doing what’s good for them with someone who talks good. Maybe we just don’t deserve good governance.

      • drewaustin@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        18 days ago

        The party used to have a large and engaged progressive contingent involved in its governance. Most of those people have been driven away or have been banned as members. The NDP is not interested in good governance, they are interested in having a very small elite that controls every single thing about the part, the ridings, and its members and has ZERO tolerance for anyone who wants to do anything that isn’t following the orders of the that elite.

        So yeah, the NDP doesn’t deserve good governance because that is not what the party wants.