Buzz Off

Many in the NDP, including Jack Layton, do not agree with their Ontario executive’s suspension of Buzz Hargrove’s membership. As party leaders this is understandable—after all Buzz still heads a large labour union. It is not a very smart thing to do politically. The Ontario NDP’s action though is understandable. What Buzz did during the election can certainly be considered treason. He, as a member of NDP, told his union members to vote Liberal in Ontario and appeared with Paul Martin as his partner in campaign stops. It is clear that he made a calculation and took his union’s short term interesting over that of his party. This is certainly his right to do as a union leader but not as a NDP member. There should therefore be no reason why his membership should not be suspended. If Jack Layton takes a good look at this he may find that this is also a good opportunity for the NDP to lessen its formal ties to labour unions. They can still get a majority of union members’ votes with their policies and they can win votes from people who think they are overly beholden to labour union interests.