In 2012 the Provincial Council of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party authorized the party’s Policy Review Committee (PRC) to develop a policy book which would provide party members and the general public with a well organized and comprehensive statement of party policy in all major policy areas.
To this end, the PRC undertook the following tasks:
Always a Work in Progress is the product of the above process.
To this end, the PRC undertook the following tasks:
- review all resolutions and policy statements adopted at provincial conventions since the party’s founding in 1962;
- identify and prioritize major policy areas;
- consolidate resolutions and policy statements within these major policy areas, capture over-arching themes within a historical context, and develop a coherent summative statement for each policy area; and
- publish these statements in a comprehensive, well organized, readable book.
Always a Work in Progress is the product of the above process.
Excerpt from Introduction to Always a Work in Progress
The NDP’s roots are in a historic Canadian movement of farmers, trade unionists, cooperatives, credit unions and social democratic thinkers, which founded in 1932 the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The aim of the CCF was to restructure through the democratic process the unregulated economic system that had led to the Great Depression and to build across Canada a society based on the following values:
The federal NDP, founded in 1961, and its predecessor, the CCF – through strategic cooperation with other political parties in the national parliament and provincial legislatures – have contributed significantly to the achievement of the above social-political aims set forth by the CCF in 1932.
Although much has been accomplished, a great deal more needs to be done – and all that has been achieved needs to be strengthened and protected. Poverty has not yet been eliminated in Canada or in Nova Scotia; the poverty levels of children, single mothers and aboriginal communities remain a national shame; universal health care and universal pensions are under renewed attack and need to be strengthened and expanded; the tax system still favours corporations and the wealthy; and the stewardship of the economy – and the environment – will always be a challenge in a complex world. Indeed building a country or a province upon high-minded, yet realistic values will always be a work in progress.
For these reasons and many others, the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is making its policy book – Always a Work in Progress – accessible to all Nova Scotians, as a means not only of educating party members and garnering public support for our policies, but also to encourage the engagement of all party members and Nova Scotians generally in policy development and discussion.
The NDP’s roots are in a historic Canadian movement of farmers, trade unionists, cooperatives, credit unions and social democratic thinkers, which founded in 1932 the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The aim of the CCF was to restructure through the democratic process the unregulated economic system that had led to the Great Depression and to build across Canada a society based on the following values:
- peace, cooperation and good governance
- universal health care
- universal pensions
- children’s allowances
- unemployment insurance and workmen’s compensation
- fair taxation
- the elimination of poverty
- government stewardship of the economy for the benefit of all citizens.
The federal NDP, founded in 1961, and its predecessor, the CCF – through strategic cooperation with other political parties in the national parliament and provincial legislatures – have contributed significantly to the achievement of the above social-political aims set forth by the CCF in 1932.
Although much has been accomplished, a great deal more needs to be done – and all that has been achieved needs to be strengthened and protected. Poverty has not yet been eliminated in Canada or in Nova Scotia; the poverty levels of children, single mothers and aboriginal communities remain a national shame; universal health care and universal pensions are under renewed attack and need to be strengthened and expanded; the tax system still favours corporations and the wealthy; and the stewardship of the economy – and the environment – will always be a challenge in a complex world. Indeed building a country or a province upon high-minded, yet realistic values will always be a work in progress.
For these reasons and many others, the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is making its policy book – Always a Work in Progress – accessible to all Nova Scotians, as a means not only of educating party members and garnering public support for our policies, but also to encourage the engagement of all party members and Nova Scotians generally in policy development and discussion.
