New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus
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| Founded: | 1998 |
| Political ideology: | Socialist |
The New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus is a left-wing group in Canada's New Democratic Party. Its members believe that mainstream New Democrats have moved too far to the Right, and is in danger of becoming another Liberal Party. It also opposes Tony Blair's Third Way policies claiming they alienate the working class.
The NDP SC was founded in early 1998 in Toronto, Ontario by political activists Barry Weisleder, Sean Cain, Jorge Hurtado and Joe Flexer and soon had branches in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as supporters in Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia. It is active at both the federal and provincial levels of the party.
The group is a socialist faction and advocates economic democracy and workers' control, full employment, the nationalization of large industries and the eradication of poverty and homelessness.
The Caucus is "anti-Imperialist", and condemns many of the actions of the United States' government. It supports the Cuban Revolution and has organized trips to the country. The NDP SC also supports the withdrawal of Canada from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the independence of Quebec and is opposed to Zionism.
The NDP SC views itself as the successor to the Waffle of the 1960s and '70s.
In 2001, the Socialist Caucus ran Marcel Hatch in a leadership challenge against Alexa McDonough. Hatch won 120 votes out of 765 ballots cast. Bev Meslo was the Socialist Caucus' candidate in the party's 2003 leadership election, winning 1.1% of the vote in the party's first One Member One Vote leadership election.
Speakers at Socialist Caucus meetings have included John Clarke, Tarek Fatah, Ali Mallah and Peter Kormos. The Trotskyist group Socialist Action, led by Weisleder and the late Joe Flexer, has encouraged its members to join the NDP and the Socialist Caucus, in what may be characterized as entryism.
The Socialist Caucus also publishes an eight-page newspaper named Turn Left, edited by Sean Cain, for each federal and Ontario provincial NDP convention.
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