Bruce McKenna is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). He studies Canadian politics and political sociology, with a focus on political parties and social democracy. He has published in Canadian Parliamentary Review and has co-authored an forthcoming book chapter with Xavier Lafrance in Canadian Parties in Transition (5th ed.), edited by Alain-G. Gagnon and Brian Tanguay. He has been active locally in the NDP, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
Reflecting on the ONDP government led by Bob Rae from 1990 to 1995, it is clear that the success of today’s ONDP depends on its ability to deliver on substantive reforms that materially benefit Ontario’s diverse working-class.
What if the CCF-NDP’s history as a mass party and a democratic, membership-based movement for a better world is in fact its unique strength in Canadian politics?
