John Ivison: The NDP’s rapidly declining sanity affects us all

Someday, they’ll hold an election and no one will come — and maybe it will be the current NDP leadership race.

As you will no doubt be aware, the starting gun was fired at the start of the month, with the finishing line scheduled for the end of March next year.

So far though, only one fringe candidate, the perennial gadfly Yves Engler, has declared. He may be vetoed by the party brass if they resolve that he does not comply with the “principles and core values of the party.”

Engler is campaigning on a platform to abolish capitalism, “de-grow” the economy and remove former justice minister Irwin Cotler’s Order of Canada over his support for Israel.

His modus operandi is to ambush public figures and ask if they support genocide in Gaza.

Former immigration minister Marc Miller got Engler’s full measure after being chased by Engler through the parliamentary precinct in Ottawa.

“This is all about you. There’s no substance. You’re a huckster and you know it,” Miller said.

An even more surreal encounter took place with David Menzies (a.k.a. “The Menzoid”) of Rebel News during the election in April.

“Do you support killing Palestinian children?” Engler asked.

“Do you support the events of October 7th?” Menzies parried.

“I asked you a simple question,” said Engler.

“Who are you?” asked Menzies.

Engler’s conclusion was that the left-wing media needs to up its game to match the theatrical stunts pulled by its right-wing counterparts.

“How is someone like The Menzoid outdoing us?” he wrote, in wonder.

Engler is hoping that he can pull off the same kind of metamorphosis — from fringe performer to mainstream disruptor — that we saw with Zohran Mamdani in New York’s mayoral race. Engler noted that Mamdani’s victory to become the Democratic nominee was, in part, due to vocal criticism of Israel.

No one has been as engaged in this issue as Engler, to the point he was charged by Montreal police with intimidation, harassment, harassing communication and interference against an officer in February, in a case involving a pro-Israeli social media personality (the first two charges have since been dropped).

His X feed is a mix of Bolshevik-style propaganda posters, featuring slogans like: “Capitalism can’t be fixed,” and internet memes such as a headstone engraved with the legend: “Death, Death, to the IDF” (Israel Defense Forces).

Fortunately for the NDP, more substantive candidates look set to emerge.