Angry in the Great White North

NDP leader Jack Layton gathered the troops to deliver a speech in person:

On the eve of the vote on the Conservative Throne Speech, NDP Leader Jack Layton called on his party’s staff to get ready to serve as the effective opposition to the Harper agenda.

At a campaign-style rally this morning, Layton said, “hardworking families know that the Conservative government is taking Canada in the wrong direction. If the Liberals aren’t willing to stand up to Mr. Harper’s agenda – the NDP will.”

So why now? Obviously the vote on the Throne Speech is tomorrow. But this was not an inexpensive announcement for the NDP. Over a hundred people were brought in from across the country to listen to a message that could have been delivered electronically. Ostensibly, part of the message was aimed at Liberals voters:

The NDP brought approximately 150 of its staff from across Canada together for a two-day intensive Opposition School on Parliament Hill. Layton called on staff to not only help caucus hold the Harper government to account, but to also to reach out to disaffected Liberal and Bloc voters.

Jack Layton and other senior NDP MPs have been delivering the message that the Liberals are no longer an effective opposition since before the Throne Speech, when it became clear that Stephane Dion and the Liberals were looking for a way to avoid voting down the government.

In terms of making contact to Canadians, the sound bites are in the news. Gathering these 150 bodies in Ottawa to deliver a message that could have been posted on the website is not for our benefit. Most Canadians are not aware of the gathering, and even if they read about in the newspaper, it's just words on a page.

The spectacle of nearly two hundred NDP staffers gathered in one place, seven times the number of MPs in the NDP caucus, was staged for the benefit of Liberal MPs. Why? To get them to consider switching teams, of course. See, the NDP is a real party, with real organization, and real strength. Join us, and you will be gaining something, not losing.

The timing is important too. Tomorrow Stephane Dion is going to direct his MPs to sit on their hands while Stephen Harper leads his Conservatives in a successful vote on the Throne Speech, a Throne Speech that turfed Kyoto, putting the blame on Stephane Dion and the Liberals.

How many Liberal MPs are going to fume over this? How many Liberal MPs are going to fight the urge to stand and vote against the speech despite the order from the leadership to roll over? How many are going to consider what sort of future they will have if they were take such a stand (figuratively and literally)? How many might consider a future without Stephane Dion, but are not willing to wait for Stephane Dion to leave?

How many are worried that they will be out of a job before Stephane Dion is?

How many Liberal MPs will spend tonight thinking about all these things, and give Jack Layton's offer serious thought? By paying for the mass gathering, Jack Layton sent out the message that he is to be taken seriously. Indeed, this is not the first attack aimed at the Liberals, but the subtle reference to "reaching out" is a new twist.

I guess we'll see tomorrow if Jack Layton's message resonates.

But here's the thing. Would Jack Layton and the NDP have staged this show purely on the hope that there might be a defection? Seems like an expensive gamble. I have to think that maybe, just maybe, the NDP has gotten some clear signals that there are Liberals considering exactly such a move, and so this show of NDP strength was staged to convince these wavering Liberals to seal the deal.