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OTTAWA — NDP brass are taking a second shot at jettisoning some of the socialist baggage that many — including Leader Tom Mulcair — feel might hold them back in the next federal election.

A committee of senior NDP members is recommending the party modernize its guiding statement by making it less ideological and dropping most of its many references to socialism.

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A proposed rewrite of the opening lines of the NDP constitution was sent to party members Wednesday, in advance of next week’s policy convention in Montreal.

At the last convention two years ago, attempts to do away with the word socialist from the preamble split the rank-and-file, even though the idea was endorsed by former leader Jack Layton.

The existing statement outlines the “principles of democratic socialism,” including the concepts of “social ownership,” “social planning,” and the idea that goods and services should be directed toward the people “and not to the making of profit.”