Recent online political activism efforts point to a modernizing trend within the Federal NDP, which is leading the party to explore popular technologies, like the internet, to reach new constituencies.

Several Federal NDP candidates for the upcoming election have recently launched interactive websites as an effort at tapping into the internet grassroots.

Esquimalt - Juan de Fuca candidate Randall Garrison is employing public feedback forms and cross-linking with other activist groups on his website http://www.randallgarrison.ca.

Former Victoria Mayor and Victoria NDP Candidate David Turner has turned to weekly live chats and a continuously updated campaign newswire at http://www.davidturner.ca as an attempt to reach out to campaign volunteers and voters.

Former NDP Leader Ed Broadbent has started his own blog at http://www.edbroadbent.ca, and organised nearly 200 e-activists on the popular web forum Meetup.com.

All of this seems to fit with a new modernizing trend within the Federal NDP, which is leading them to explore popular technologies, like the internet, to reach new constituencies. The process was jump-started in September of 2003 when new leader Jack Layton launched a satirical website (http://www.flyourflag.ca) criticizing Paul Martin for refusing to fly the Canadian flag on his sailing vessels as a way of avoiding taxes.

The tactic drew intense media attention to the ethics of Martin's scandal and led to the participation of thousands of voters in a mock referendum to decide which flag Paul Martin should fly from the Peace Tower as Canadian Prime Minister. What had previously been a largely ignored issue, was once again vaulted to the front of media headlines, newspaper editorials, and satirical TV programs like This Hour has 22 Minutes and the Royal Canadian Air Farce.

The Federal NDP also claims Canada's largest political newsletter, e-NDP, which consists of a trendy html based issue delivered every two weeks to one month to over 30,000 email inboxes. It was also the first Canadian political party to allow members to vote for their new leader online, in the spring 2003 leadership race.

Many similar grassroots internet political activism attempts have proven successful and effective in the United States, however this is the first time that any political group (with the very notable exceptions of Greenpeace and WildCanada.net) has made such a concerted attempt in Canada.

According to the website traffic reporting firm Alexa.com, it is starting to pay off. Alexa's website reports that in the last 6 months traffic to http://www.ndp.ca has increased by 162%. Based on Alexa's reporting methods, the NDP website now has a daily traffic reach of about 14 per million internet users.

The new online buzz around the NDP has given an accompanying boost to the NDP's membership and donation rolls. In the past year the NDP has doubled its membership to over 100,000 and youth have been joining in unprecedented numbers on the NDP website. The new cash flow from online donations has allowed the NDP to run more traditional print ads in national newspapers like The Globe and Mail on issues like the stopping the privatization of Medicare and opposition to George Bush's Star Wars Missile Defense.

Layton has also used the internet as tool for sound bites and press conferences. During the last year's Liberal Party leadership race, Layton jovially announced that the NDP had signed up several hundred members online the moment Paul Martin won the Federal nomination.

The NDP most now attempt a process which has eluded North American web strategists and political organisers so far; turning online support into votes at the ballot box. This challenge will likely prove the most daunting challenge yet, and will likely help determine the future viability of internet as tool for political organizing.