“Boring,” “snoozefest,” “soft,” and “useless” are just some of the words the Canadian media has used to describe the rather tame atmosphere in the race for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada. Canadians appear either uninterested in or uninformed about the contest for the official leader of the Opposition and the successor to the late Jack Layton. Perhaps it’s the lack of clashing personalities or the lack of public and personal scandals. Or perhaps, as candidate MP Nathan Cullen has described it, the “violent agreement” on policy and platform between the leadership candidates is to blame. Political pundits such as Mr. Rex Murphy have most recently bemoaned the relative “secrecy” of the leadership race, as the contest appears to be under-the-radar. Is the absence of internal division the cause for low media attention during the leadership race?
This scrutiny over the visibility of the leadership race is a bit paradoxical. Though many Canadians hesitate to name each of the potential candidates for their very own leader of the opposition, that does not mean that these leadership hopefuls have been unapproachable for the media. On the contrary, the candidates have been very open to the media, inviting coverage at each debate and public appearance.
It’s unfair to label the leadership race as “too secret” when the very media that is supposed to publicize the competition for the public is reluctant to cover it. It is certainly much harder to sell newspapers and airtime with stories of peace and quiet within the NDP leadership contest, but factionalism and other internal divisions do not make for good publicity either.
What appears to receive more coverage and recognition by Canadians is the leadership contest south of the border: the spectacle of the US Republican presidential primaries. Canadians could probably recognize Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, the scandals and their Super PACs a lot better than we could name the candidates for the NDP’s leadership. With the aid of their Super PACs, the mud-slinging and embarrassing personal attacks between the Republican presidential hopefuls have become political theatre. As a result, the Republican party has become divided between pro-Romney and anti-Romney factions. This particular leadership race has developed into a something of a circus show, but with the coverage it has received, it has succeeded in drawing our attention away from the politics here at home, rendering Canadians uninformed.
But it is not just the (what I am reluctant to call) excitement surrounding the Republican race that is catching the media’s eye. A lot more media attention has been paid to the reform efforts of the federal Liberal Party and their interim leader Bob Rae. The party’s biennial convention that took place two weekends ago received much more media coverage than the addition of an NDP debate held right here in Toronto the following Wednesday. In the weeks pre- and post-convention, pundits and politicos spoke more about the smack talk between the young candidates for the party’s National Policy Chair, the need for inclusiveness in the party, and speculation over possible leadership contenders (or lack thereof) to Rae than the NDP contest. While the NDP held their debate in front of an overflowing crowd at Bloor Collegiate Institute, the media was more focused on how the third-place Liberals could take back Parliament in 2015. The internal divisions and anxieties of another party again stole the show from the NDP.
A good many have complained about the need to spice up this NDP leadership race in order to attract attention. But what good does a divisive scandal do to a party putting forward a collection of confident, electable, and attractive leadership candidates? If the media decides that the race is too boring, so be it. It is party unity that helped the NDP and the Conservatives exceed expectations in the last federal election. However, in choosing to focus on scandals and political theatre rather than what the potential leader of the opposition will do for the country, the media leaves Canadians disenchanted with and misinformed about their own politics.
