The "New Democrats" in Canada are the political party which is the strongest progressive left-leaning party in the country. They seem to dominate ridings (what we in the Usa call "congressional districts") in British Columbia, for example... and they just got a parliamentary majority (and thus got the right to form the executive branch (governership) of Nova Scotia. They have 36 seats in the national parliament in Ottawa, where there are 308 total members. This is over half of what the Liberal party has (which is the most mainstream left-wing party). And this is enough seats to give the New Democrats significant leverage on parliament hill. Most recently, the New Democrats chose to prevent the Liberals from succeeding in a non-confidence motion which would have led Canada into a national election where the executive branch of government would be contested by all the major parties.

It may be that in order to really appreciate the humour in this video where Jack Layton pokes fun at himself and his own party, you need to have more of a sense of Canadian politics than you can get from that short synopsis above... but I want to share this video, anyway. This man's talent and humour is very refreshing... and I think that his attitude is a bellweather of good things on the horizon for Canadian government. I wish we had a person in congress in the Usa who had this much influence, and who was this progressive. Watching canadian politics is a refreshing change from watching the events in Washington DC.

Oh, one thing you will need to know for sure: The word "government" in many countries such as Canada means what we in the States call "the executive branch." This is formed by the party with the most seats in government after a national election. So theoretically, Jack Layton, as party leader, would become prime minister of Canada, if his party would ever achieve the most seats in parliament (an event which is highly unlikely in conservative Canada). Also, it's important to know that the word "grits" is slang for the Liberal party.