NDP have history of leading

Re How is NDP different from other parties?, Salutin, Sept. 22 I found it difficult to read Rick Salutin’s column on the NDP.

First, he criticizes the NDP for outdated ideas. I suppose he means ideas like social justice, a national daycare program, a fair minimum wage, etc.

Yet we very often see other parties, particularly the Liberals, recycle these “outdated” ideas from the NDP platform and claim them as their own.

Then Salutin criticizes NDP leaders for changing some basic ideas in response to new priorities, something all parties do. The most cynical example would be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau abandoning electoral reform after he had made it a prominent campaign promise.

Salutin then suggests the NDP’s focus on women is some new idea, perhaps inspired by feminist Trudeau?

But this ignores the fact the NDP has promoted equality from the very beginning. For example, NDP conventions require an equal number of male and female delegates be sent from each riding association.

He also minimizes the contributions of the NDP’s two female national leaders by saying they “didn’t work out.”

The national Conservatives had the short-term leadership of Kim Campbell and the effective interim leadership of Rona Ambrose. But I cannot come up with a single example of a female national Liberal leader.

Finally, when discussing the current NDP leadership race, Salutin focuses on Jagmeet Singh, the most “Liberal” of the four candidates, totally ignoring the other three candidates. Susan Fraser, Toronto