Alberta NDP supports proportional representation
from the Alberta NDP Constitution:
Appendix C
The Principles and Aims of the Alberta New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party offers an alternative vision of the future based on the following three principles:
Democracy is one of the most valuable parts of our heritage and recognizes that
all citizens, including minorities, must receive equal civil rights with representatives elected by way of proportional representation.
Our country will only be a genuinely democratic one when all people participate fully in determining the policies of the institutions which directly affect their lives. The necessary role of governments must be recognized in order to build an equitable and socially just society. Socialism is essentially the application of democracy to the economy.
Economic democracy, i.e. democratic socialism, assures production to supply the needs of all people.
Decisions about what shall be produced, when and where, and decisions about where we shall make our living and under what conditions, are now left largely in the hands of private interests. The market economy produces transnational corporations, who give private profit priority over public interest, social justice and workplace democracy.
Through the efforts of many, we have achieved a degree of social and political democracy. Economic democracy demands a co-operative rather than a competitive system.
Ecological Sustainability must permeate all economic and social policy. Meeting human material needs must not use more of Earth’s resources than can be renewed within each generation. Wastes produced in meeting needs must not endanger future generations’ rights to clean air, pure water and productive soil. Life on Earth is best protected by ensuring biodiversity, requiring recognition of each species’ contribution to the planet’s health.
Consequently, we have to view other species not as resources for human wants, but as respected members of Earth’s living family. Human economic security is assured by reducing consumption, and is achieved by conservation programs. Such policies will also contribute to intergenerational equity.
The New Democratic Party believes that only a revolution in thinking can lead to the establishment of democratic socialism.
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