here's my advice to the ndp - and, yes, it's time to get a move on it. you're way behind.

my advice is this: let the liberals run on immigration. just get out of their way. i'm not saying you should parrot what i'm saying; i'd rather suggest otherwise, actually. i'm not a politician. i know what i'm saying is unpopular. i'm in the game of pushing back against the narrative for the purpose of raising awareness and building consciousness, not in the game of running for office. if i thought i was going to run for office, i'd compromise on my principles for the immigrant vote, too - but i'm not, and you might want to think about that, about where canadian principles really are in all of this.

i think a lot of canadians across the political spectrum would agree with the idea that canadian politicians - perhaps especially on the left - have sold out their principles to appeal to first-generation voters. and, if the ndp does not have principles to stand on, it cannot compete. cultural relativism is not a set of principles but the rejection of the concept of holding to principles. let the liberals play that game; the ndp needs to stand for something.

but, what that means is just getting out of the way. what it means is being quiet.

here's a not so bold prediction: you can expect that the media is going to try and make the election about muslims. again. the conservatives are playing along.

canadians told us in 2015 that they didn't want the election to be about muslims. justin trudeau was elected because his platform was articulated very well and positioned him to the left of the ndp, not because of the coverage around syrian refugees. and, if he wants to play into this lie, all you have to do is beat him at his own game.

in the crudest terms possible, what the ndp needs to do to compete is just take trudeau's platform and put the ndp logo on it. that's what people voted for. and, he's done a really shitty job in following through.

but, the key tactic is to make sure that the ndp leader is seen as out of the fray of all of this arguing about muslims. the most recent fail on this point is around the khadr settlement. well, yeah - he was fucking tortured, of course he got a settlement. but, there's this huge confusion amongst pollsters and the media, who expected it to drive voter sentiment.

the reality is that nobody cares. nobody. zero fucks.

the liberals have indicated repeatedly that they're going to buy into this, because they've put the entire brand on it. it's the only thing they've followed through on. and, they're basically aping the democratic party model around hispanic voters becoming dominant. well, that didn't work out in the united states, did it? shockingly, it turns out that a lot of hispanics are actually kind of religious and deeply conservative.

a lot of muslims are deeply conservative, too.

that is my advice to the ndp, ok: just don't get into it. let the liberals hang themselves with their own rope. if asked specific questions, interpret the constitution properly. people have rights. sure. we all agree with that. but, don't pander. don't get into the gutter. focus instead on big ideas that canadians actually care about: health care, education, the economy. and, fight the media tooth and nail to get the coverage on it...