Wpg Free Press: NDP Solidarity Forever, or Solidarity Only in Fair Weather?

In an analysis column published in the November 1 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press, U of M history professor Todd Scarth called the “disloyalty of Manitoba government MLAs — including cabinet dissidents and anonymous sources — […] terribly reckless.

“History shows this kind of backstabbing and public betrayal in party politics rarely ends well,” he wrote, responding to the recent provincial NDP events that had five cabinet ministers publicly call for Premier Greg Selinger to step down because of the party’s low polling numbers. After the premier announced that he would stay put and that the five could “either focus on the priorities of Manitoba families as a part of our team, or resign,” the ‘Gang of Five’ resigned from cabinet. Selinger announced his new cabinet today.

Scarth, who was a senior adviser to the Government of Manitoba from 2010 to 2013, goes on to say that the move “by veteran NDP activists such as Becky Barrett and Darlene Dziewit is especially bizarre.

“They both know, through their long political experience, that loyalty and solidarity are not luxuries to be enjoyed only when times are good. These things matter most — in fact, we can only really demonstrate them — when the pressure is on…. This is not Solidarity Forever, it is Solidarity Only in Fair Weather. And it is a shame.”

Read the column in its entirety here.