The new provincial NDP government is likely to break from the left and rule from the centre, predicts one Cape Breton University professor.
Tom Urbaniak said indications of the party’s edging from its historic side showed up during the campaign, especially from leader Darrell Dexter.
“I think his basic interests are centrist and he will try to govern from the centre,” Urbaniak said. “He may be pulled in various directions, including pulled to the left by long-standing party activists — people who have worked in the trenches for decades and joined the NDP because they had certain very coherent and fixed ideas.”
Urbaniak said these groups will likely expect more ambitious policy initiatives than those in the NDP platform, but he thinks Dexter will keep pulling initiatives toward the centre.
Growing pains with the new NDP government should be expected, according to fellow CBU professor Jim Guy.
“I think they are going to trip on pebbles, they are going to fall down a little bit every once in a while, but they will very likely pick themselves up very quickly and run with the right course of action.”
