Political conventions are gold mines for collectors

Their quarry? T-shirts, buttons, hats and sometimes even thong underwear (saucy red Pierre Trudeau thong was a sell-out at the 2006 Liberal Party convention in Montreal).

Here at the federal NDP convention in Halifax, there isn’t much “official” political memorabilia.

But one of the most popular items circulating at this convention is a small orange button emblazoned with the letter “N”.

Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin is sporting one.

He says it sends the message to keep the “N” in the NDP.

The party is set to debate a resolution this weekend on dropping the word “New” from the New Democratic Party and simply be called the Democratic Party.

Martin says he doesn’t want to change the party’s name months before a potential fall election.

— Alison Crawford