In 2021, the New Democratic Party celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of its founding. This is my retrospective view of Canada's social democratic party.
NDP’s sixtieth anniversary, 2021
The NDP and COVID-19 politics
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been so omnipresent during the COVID-19 pandemic that it is easy to forget we have a minority government in Canada. The Liberals must rely upon some combination of support from the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Green parties. The NDP and its leader Jagmeet Singh have, in particular, used their leverage... Continue Reading →
Dennis Gruending in Rhubarb magazine, part 2
In 2013, I was interviewed by Victor Enns of Rhubarb magazine about what lay behind my decision in the 1990s to run for political office. I posted the first part of that interview on this site recently. In the interview Victor also asked me about what it was like to serve as an NDP MP... Continue Reading →
Dennis Gruending Q&A in Rhubarb magazine
In 2013, I was approached for an interview by Victor Enns, the founder of a (now defunct) Winnipeg-based magazine called Rhubarb. Victor and others involved with the quarterly publication described it as featuring work by writers and artists of Mennonite heritage for a general reading public. I am not a Mennonite but my wife is... Continue Reading →
Paul Dewar’s motto, “faith is political”
Paul Dewar, the much loved and respected former Ottawa MP, died of cancer on February 6, 2019. Ten years earlier he spoke at a class that I taught to middle-aged and older adults. Paul was raised in a political home and his parents were staunch Catholics, although he later attended at a United Church. I posted a piece in 2009... Continue Reading →
Note to pundits: the NDP leadership race matters
Soon, members of the New Democratic Party will begin electronic and mail-in voting to select their new leader. The race features four competent and principled candidates in MPs Charlie Angus, Niki Ashton and Guy Caron, as well Ontario MPP Jagmeet Singh, and it has become increasingly interesting. But the wider question is whether the NDP will be relevant... Continue Reading →
RCMP spied on Tommy Douglas
The RCMP security service spied on Tommy Douglas, the former Saskatchewan premier and federal NDP leader, from the 1930s until shortly before his death the 1980s. We know this only because Jim Bronskill, an Ottawa-based Canadian Press journalist, has waged a long battle with the federal government and its agencies beginning in 2005 to make... Continue Reading →
The Blaikie report on faith and politics
Rev. Bill Blaikie stands tall in the annals of Canadian parliamentarians and it is not only his imposing physical presence that sets him apart.
Remembering Father Bob Ogle
I was thinking over the Easter weekend of Father Bob Ogle, my late friend and political mentor. It was in April 1998 that he died at age 69 after more than a decade of serious illness. I wrote a brief piece about him for the Lives Lived section of the Globe and Mail and the... Continue Reading →
NDP leadership hopeful Paul Dewar, “faith is political”
Paul Dewar, the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, has entered the race to become leader of the New Democratic Party. Dewar was raised in a political home in Ottawa and his parents were staunch Roman Catholics. Two years ago, I invited him to talk to a class that I was teaching about faith... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 