The Waffle
| Motto | For an Independent, Socialist Canada |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1969 |
| Extinction | 1974 |
| Purpose |
Democratic socialism Canadian nationalism Quebec sovereigntism |
|
Region served
|
Canada |
|
Chairperson
|
Mel Watkins and James Laxer |
|
Main organ
|
Waffle News |
The Waffle (also known as the Movement for an Independent Socialist Canada) was a radical wing of Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It later transformed into an independent political party, with little electoral success before it permanently disbanded in the mid-1970s. It was generally a New Left youth movement, that espoused Canadian nationalism, and solidarity with Quebec's sovereignty movement.
The group formed in 1969, a product of campus radicalism, feminism, Canadian nationalism and left-wing nationalism in general. Its leaders were university professors Mel Watkins, James Laxer and Robert Laxer. It issued a Manifesto for an Independent Socialist Canada and with support in the NDP caucus and membership worked to try to push the party leftward. The Waffle supported the nationalization of Canadian industries to take them out of the hands of American interests. The group was endorsed by the New Democratic Youth. The Waffle manifesto stated that "A socialist society must be one in which there is democratic control of all institutions, which have a major effect on men's lives and where there is equal opportunity for creative non-exploitative self-development. It is now time to go beyond the welfare state." and that "The New Democratic Party must provide leadership in the struggle to extend working men's influence into every area of industrial decision-making.... By bringing men together primarily as buyers and sellers of each other, by enshrining profitability and material gain in place of humanity and spiritual growth, capitalism has always been inherently alienating. Today, sheer size combined with modern technology further exaggerates man's sense of insignificance and impotence. A socialist transformation of society will return to man his sense of humanity, to replace his sense of being a commodity. But a socialist democracy implies man's control of his immediate environment as well, and in any strategy for building socialism, community democracy is as vital as the struggle for electoral success."
The Waffle developed a Canadian nationalist policy and predicted in the founding manifesto "The major threat to Canadian survival today is American control of the Canadian economy. The major issue of our times is not national unity but national survival."
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Wikipedia