A thought...

I think it is becoming very obvious to many working people we can't afford to wait until the next election to begin turning this country around. These politicians can't possibly believe that they can tell us one thing to get elected and then once elected they do just the opposite while expecting  us to wait patiently for the next election as they carry out their dirty deeds.

New Democrats need to attack Tories on economic record, Pawley says

New Democrats need to attack Tories on economic record, Pawley says

Left-leaning federal parties like the New Democrats should take a page out of Howard Pawley’s book and mount a much stronger attack against the Harper government’s economic policies, says the former premier of Manitoba and professor emeritus at the University of Windsor.~

“They should go after them on the growing gap between the top one percent of the population in this country and the middle class and focus on the increasing levels of poverty,” said Pawley, who will read from his new memoir at a campus reception next Tuesday, the day after the federal election. “That’s the biggest economic issue we’re facing here.”

Keep True: A Life in Politics tells the life story of Pawley, focusing on how he was originally elected to the Manitoba legislative assembly in 1957, eventually became the premier in an upset NDP victory in 1981 and then lost in 1988 after a bitter and divisive campaign. Much of the book is devoted to his party’s re-election in 1986 and the battles over French language rights, public auto insurance and the Meech Lake constitutional accord.

When Pawley’s team was campaigning prior to its 1981 victory, he said, many advisors warned them against taking on then-premier Sterling Lyon’s Tories on their economic record and rather focus on more social issues. 

“We disagreed,” said Pawley. “We told them that we were going to fight them on economic issues. We accused them of reckless financial management.”

It was a strategy that paid off and one he suggested federal NDP leader Jack Layton should employ.

“I think the left fails to do that today,” he said.

Pawley left politics after his party’s defeat in 1988 and he took a position teaching political science and law at the university, a job he expected to last only for a year.

“The university has been very good to me,” said the 76-year-old Pawley. “I found that I loved teaching and I especially love interacting with the young people. Some people are addicted to drugs or alcohol. I’m addicted to teaching.”

Pawley will read from his book on May 3 at 7 p.m. in the Katzman Lounge at Vanier Hall. Guest speakers will include Gary Parent, former president of the Windsor and District Labour Council and Robert Krause, retired head of the university’s political science department.

The event is open to the public and will include a book signing and light refreshments. For more information, contact Cheryl Miki at miki@cc.umanitoba.ca.