Dead Centre: Hope, Possibility, and Unity for Canadian Progressives

by Jamey Heath

A provocative and inspired call to unite progressives in Canada and shift the political landscape. The Liberal Party is down, and might not be able to get back up. It is no longer a natural governing entity after losing Quebec for seven straight elections. Stephen Harper’s policies have been controversial and polarizing, especially for left leaning Conservatives. There are people on both sides who want Canada to get past this mollified partisanship. The alternative is to take back the centre and charge forward with a progressive agenda. What about the environment? What about our foreign policy? Canada can once again stand tall in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of its own citizens.  Our nation was once a beacon for centrist, sensible, and level-headed policy. Do the Liberals speak for true Canadian values anymore? They don't. Will the Conservatives stand firm for Canada in a globalized economy. They won't. Is the status quo good enough for you? How do we get back to a place where Canada leads in those areas that Canadians feel passionate about? Author of Dead Centre, Jamey Heath, watched the left fracture before his eyes when he was the NDP’s lead strategist from 2003 to 2006. In his book Jamey calls to account the leading lights of the left. He challenges assumptions and revisits the defeats and the squabbles. He then sounds a clarion call to regroup and tackle our nations' challenges. With refreshing, contrarian insight Heath will find a significant audience among Liberals, Greens, New Democrats and the growing number of politically minded -- but party neutral -- progressives that want sensible leadership and a renaissance of Canadian nationhood. Dead Centre is printed on biodegradeable paper with environmentally friendly inks. 

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Calinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heath's primary premise is that Canadians are stuck in a particular frame when it comes to choosing which progressive party to support. And he says that change is possible if we change that frame. As an NDP strategist, he has an insider's view of how political events happened around the 2006 election.

I'm reading the book in 2013 and I'm surprised by how much it still resonates. With the huge NDP win in Quebec in 2011, many of the old ideas of what was possible in Canadian elections were smashed. And Heath's premise that how progressive people in Quebec vote matters to how progressive parties do in the overall election now becomes even more important.

With the cult of celebrity around the Liberal's current leader, Heath's contention that Liberals are a mushy middle party that attracts moderate right-wingers and prevents them from moderating the views of the Conservative party as a whole also takes on a new resonance.

Will Canadians choose a progressive option in 2015? Or will the old frame box them in and continue the Conservative government's reign?