Left, but how left? Analyzing the foreign policy of the New Democratic Party of Canada
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020231178922 |
| Author | James Collie |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
Left, but how left? Analyzing
the foreign policy of the New
Democratic Party of Canada
James Collie
University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
Abstract
This article analyzes the modern foreign policy of the New Democratic Party of
Canada (NDP). It uses the framework of Aaron Ettinger’s work in the International
Journal on an emerging left-wing in the US Democratic Party. I first situate the
research within the existing literature on leftist internationalism, Canadian foreign
policy, and the New Democratic Party. I then analyze a dataset that I created based
on the last five NDP federal election platforms and use it to analyze 210 different for-
eign policy commitments. I use these findings to argue two things: (1) the NDP has a
comprehensive foreign policy that reflects dual struggles of electability and left-wing
ideals; (2) there is no identifiable left-wing turn in recent NDP platforms. I conclude
this article with a discussion on the future of NDP foreign policy.
Keywords
New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP), leftist internationalism, Canadian foreign
policy, social democracy, party politics
How, for example, can we hope to see a world community so long as there is a great and
growing disparity between the poverty-stricken nations of two-thirds of the world and the
affluent one-third in North America and Europe? …There is an immense disparity
between the resources that we direct to building the world community by economic aid
Corresponding author:
James Collie, Department of Political Science, University of Western Ontario,1151 Richmond Street, Social
Science Centre, SSC 7317, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada.
Email: jcollie5@uwo.ca
Scholarly Essay
International Journal
2023, Vol. 78(1-2) 193–211
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00207020231178922
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
and the amount we spend upon traditional methods of defence. This disparity seems to me
to show a lack of values and a lack of ordinary good judgment as to wherein our security
really lies.
—Former NDP Member of Parliament Andrew Brewin, 1965
1
Across several liberal democracies, the organized political Left has been undergo-
ing a resurgence in popularity. Whether social democratic, democratic socialist, or oth-
erwise, left-wing solutions have proven their staying power, especially in light of an
impending climate crisis, soaring income inequality, and the rise of populist right-wing
political actors. Recent research by Aaron Ettinger in International Journal explores a
distinct, emerging left-wing foreign policy within the US Democratic Party.
2
The success of the American organized Left, most of whom adopt social democratic
policies and ideals, has resulted in ideas inspired by leftist internationalism entering
mainstream foreign policy debates. Left-wing candidates have long competed within
the party, but with the substantial success of politicians like Bernie Sanders and
Elizabeth Warren, they have had to define their foreign policy so voters can see
they are ready to govern.
3
In Canada, the rise of the Left is not as apparent.
Accordingly, this article sets out to apply Ettinger’s model to Canada to ask: is
there an emerging left-wing foreign policy in Canada? More specifically, is there an
emerging left-wing foreign policy within the New Democratic Party?
The New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) is Canada’s federal social democratic
party and well known for its principled stances and commitment to social values.
Based upon a close reading of the party, this paper argues that there is no emerging
left-wing consensus within the NDP. Instead, the NDP has always had a left-wing
flank that has varied in its success in implementing policy. I demonstrate this argument
in three ways. First, the NDP’s history has been formally committed to left-wing
ideals. Second, this left-wing flank of the NDP has resulted in a contest over party
foreign policy, often with left-wing ideals successfully impacting party policy.
Leading to this is the third and final element of my argument. The party’s foreign
policy represents the perennial struggle of the NDP and its provincial counterparts:
to be the party of the Left or a party that can win government.
Although inspired by Ettinger, this paper’s analysis asks how left-wing the NDP’s
foreign policy has been. In doing so, I show that the foreign policy of the NDP has
reflected multilateralism, leftism, and, at times, neo-liberalism. These terms will be
explored by closely examining the party’s history and Canadian foreign policy. In
terms of research, there appears to be little academic research devoted to evaluating
1. Andrew Brewin, Stand on Guard: The Search for a Canadian Defence Policy (Toronto: McClelland and
Stewart, 1965), 137–138.
2. Aaron Ettinger, “Is there an emerging left-wing foreign policy in the United States?”International
Journal 75, no. 1 (2020): 24–48.
3. Ettinger, “Is there an emerging left-wing foreign policy in the United States?”26.
194 International Journal 78(1-2)
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