OTTAWA - NDP brass are taking a second shot at jettisoning some of the socialist baggage that many — including party leader Tom Mulcair — feel mig...

This blog isn't about the history of the Dippers, the storied beginning of the New Democratic Party here in Canada and where we got to where we are today. This is more-so a heads-up for Mulcair to pack up his proverbial desk, give up the guise of being the leader of the NDP and go away.

Jack Layton is one the Canadian politician I respected most, yet never had a chance to support. I first met him at a charity event where he wrote out his private cell phone number. He asked me to call him anytime I wanted so we could have a conversation. I often felt like I was talking to Canada itself.

The NDP leadership race is currently running neck-in-neck with Arctic Air in the contest to see who can produce the last compelling form of government-run entertainment. So the quest for our friends in the press has been to find some angle on the race beyond the traditional "Hey, who's winning?" narrative.

For the next couple of months the Americans will be participating in an exercise in mass democracy entirely without precedent or equivalent in our sad dominion, and offering a thoroughly irritating reminder of just how backwards and elitist the Canadian party system remains in contrast.