The first day of the Ontario New Democratic Party's annual convention was far from a friendly debate about priorities ahead of the 2022 provincial election.

Much of delegates' time was taken up debating resolutions that virtually every NDP voter would support — and even some that the party has introduced legislation on, like giving workers 10 paid sick days. Controversial topics like lowering the voting age to 16, cutting public funding for religious schools, and nationalizing General Motors never saw the floor.

Some delegates saw this as a waste of time, and voiced their frustrations toward the end of the day.

"We have busy lives, and paid money to come here, and the fact that we're spending our time on this when, let's be real, everyone's going to support this, including myself — it's a little bit insulting," delegate Sam Kaplun said.

Just one labour-related resolution was debated in the hour-long block dedicated to the topic, noted Andrew Mackenzie, a national representative with the United Food & Commercial Workers.

"I think sometimes we forget that labour is a founding partner in this party, and I just wanted to express my profound disappointment in this," he said.

At least one delegate was also upset that MPPs and labour leaders spoke on nearly every resolution, taking up space that she felt should be reserved for grassroots supporters.

"This is the only time in two years that we can contribute to policy. You are in rooms every single day that contribute to policy and shape campaigns. Sit down," Jessa McLean said.

Another delegate said the resolution to support 10 paid sick days was a missed opportunity, given the policy's popularity across party lines. The NDP should do more to court people frustrated with the lack of pandemic supports, who are too often lost to the right, he said.

"I think that what we should be doing ... is to organize mass action; to demand 10 paid sick days for all workers; to demand easy access to rapid testing; to demand everything that we need," he said. "Disenfranchised people are looking to the right because they're not seeing any movement from our side, and that is a damn shame."

A significant amount of time was also spent arguing over points of order and the wording of resolutions. A motion early on that would've restricted speaking times to 90 seconds from three minutes got 59 per cent support, but failed because it needed a two-thirds majority.

And there were many technical glitches, as the wrong text would frequently show up or be read out when introducing resolutions.

In total, the convention passed 10 resolutions — including ending private long-term care; supporting overdose prevention sites; including mental health support under OHIP; including health workers in pandemic response planning; supporting $10-a-day child care; funding sexual assault support centres; and making sure youth have timely access to mental health care.

NDP officials stressed that not every resolution passed will make it into the party's platform. Some occasionally go against the platform, they said — but those ones rarely make it to the floor. Resolutions are to be thought of as a barometer of how the grassroots membership is feeling ahead of the spring election.

The convention also heard from federal leader Jagmeet Singh, who reiterated his confidence in Ontario party leader Andrea Horwath.

"She earned the title 'Steeltown Scrapper.' She is a fighter. She will never back down and she always puts people first. She gave me a chance as a young MPP and supported me. And probably the only reason — one of the only reasons why I'm a leader right now of a national party is because of her mentorship and her support," said Singh, who was an Ontario MPP from 2011 to 2017.

Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Patty Coates also endorsed Horwath for premier. The OFL's membership voted in favour of supporting the party at its convention in November 2021.

Delegate frustrations, technical glitches dominate day one of ONDP convention

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