The Long March takes a Great Leap Forward

Mao Dear Diary:

Well, it’s official now. The stunningly successful Long March of the Left through Canadian institutions – aided and abetted by the world’s most compliant media establishment – has taken another Great Leap Forward. In doing so it has placed the nation’s intellectual leadership into the hands of Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis – both of whom have, as journalists, been bringing you objective reporting on world events for years now.

Forget that the difference between the Leap Manifesto adopted by the NDP at its Edmonton convention this week contrasts rather dramatically with Mao’s Leap agenda in that, unlike their beloved Chairman (right), today’s progressives favour the de-industrialization of society and a return to what appears to be a more agrarian existence. And forget that the adoption of the same brings an end to the the NDP’s long history of looking out for the working man.

Naomi Klein

Every major union in the country is now fully committed to an agenda – and will use their memberships’ dues to pursuit it – that calls for “shifting to an economy in balance with earth’s limits.”

They do not care that under the guidance of Klein and Lewis (yes, the former CBC and Al-Jazeera man and son of Stephen son of David: the ailment appears to be genetic) the jobs of every auto worker, shipyard worker, airport worker, miner, auto mechanic, pipe fitter, refinery worker, oil & gas worker and oh so many others need to disappear. Now.

(Update: the Leap Manifesto is not official party policy yet – it was approved to take forward to constituency associations, etc. for more debate/approval. We were working from media reporters that stated “NDP adopts Leap Manifesto.” We should have learned not to trust media (insert face palm emoticon) and apologize to any of Barrelstrength’s many left of centre readers for any distress we may have caused them resulting in a need for the urgent establishment of ideologically safe spaces. Nevertheless, the manifesto did receive the support of a sizeable percentage of the delegates on hand.)

Oh, and because “the time for energy democracy has come; we believe not just in changes to our energy sources, but that wherever possible communities should collectively control these new energy systems,” the era of private industry and entrepreneurship is coming (we all apparently hope) as well.

Avi Lewis

To be fair the Leap Manifesto, while prioritizing Caring for the Earth, does mention “and Caring for each other.” But it sure doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about caring for one of its own. Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley, who’s passionate plea to that it was time to look more charitably upon Alberta and it’s 100,000-plus laid off workers (yes, workers – anyone remember them?) was completely ignored because “Canada’s record on climate change is a crime against humanity’s future.”

To say ignored is to understate. Lewis and Klein want an end to pipelines and tanker traffic. Right now. And they want resources left in the ground. Right now. The Leap Manifesto, implemented, kills Canada’s resources industries to put an end to these “crimes.” Notley, who recently stopped wearing her Che Guevara watch, is now trying to live life as a grownup.

The folks in the Hague are certainly going to be busy prosecuting those who have been creating happy, prosperous lives for humanity because, if Canada’s 2% contribution to global emissions constitutes a “crime against humanity,” President Obama and a lot of other world leaders – including those in the Persian Gulf who used to pay young Avi’s salary at Al-Jazeera, better start lawyering up.

Speaking of throwing people under the bus, the convention also dumped leader Thomas Mulcair. So, this should be fun. Except that this one’s in the bag. Nathan Cullen, the camera-ready eco-indigenous-Great Spirit Bear-worshipping MP from Skeena-Bulkley Valley who won the hearts but not the minds of NDP delegates at the last leadership convention, has this one in the bag.

Our first reaction, Dear Diary, is that this will drive the Green vote and the who cares about money when the world is filled with unicorns vote that fled to our current PM last October, back to the NDP. But, on second thought, it’s more likely said PM will just yoga harder to outleap The Leap. So, say goodbye to reason, say goodbye to pipelines and say goodbye to Alberta and Saskatchewan as part of Confederation.


We say the latter because compared to the intellectual insanities listed above, Hillary Clinton qualifies as a right-wing kook and could be president of the United States come next year.

Failing that and given her absolutely dismal appeal as a campaigner to anyone outside the Dem0cratric National Committee, we are of the view that a truly happy scenario involves Ted Cruz – what’s not to love about a son of a pastor, climate change-denying Harvard Law School grad? – becoming POTUS.

If that happens, the Keystone pipeline will be approved, Alberta and Saskatchewan will have the salt water access they need and they will merrily tell Avi, Naomi, Seth and others whose embrace of the climate change agenda reveals its true purpose to go Leap themselves.


On yet another cheerful note, for the first time in five years we slept in something other than the fetal position following a Canadian election last Monday night despite staying up past midnight to follow every fart and piddle of the Saskatchewan election.

Who every thought following down to the wire races in Saskatoon Fairview and Regina Pasqua could be so inspiring?

And who among us wouldn’t fit better in the riding of Estevan (oil country) where Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party took 5,386 votes. The NDP candidate, who edged out the PCer (yes, a handful still exist in some sort of post-apocalyptic mutation) by 17 votes, finished second with 627 votes.

As Wall said on election night, “God bless this Province.”

Yes, people still say this things. In Canada. Out loud.


This past weekend, April 9 marked the 99th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge – often considered the moment when Canada emerged from its adolescence and asserted its true independence from Britain by taking matters into its own hand and not taking orders from upper class twits. On that day, 3,598 young Canadian men died and 7,000 others were wounded.

Ninety nine years later, students on this continent cry themselves to sleep worrying about gender-neutral bathrooms and demand “safe spaces” when someone writes “Trump 2016” in chalk on a sidewalk.

Nothing is more illustrative of the wisdom once bestowed upon us that while civilization may be thousands of years old, it is never more than one generation deep. Something has gone terribly wrong.

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