Mulcair takes blame for NDP’s crushing loss
Party leader appoints ‘ top- level’ panel to analyze dismal results
Tom Mulcair’s longtime theme song Meet Me in the Basement by Broken Social Scene took on an ironic — and literal — significance Wednesday as the electionbruised NDP caucus gathered in the bowels of Parliament Hill.
The New Democrat leader, who has stayed out of the public eye since his party’s drubbing two weeks ago, met a significantly shrunk caucus just hours after Justin Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister.
In a speech open to the media, Mulcair said the election results were not what the NDP hoped for, but vowed the party will examine what happened.
“We will be taking time in the months to come to analyze what happened,” he said. “I’ve asked party president Rebecca Blaikie and national director Anne McGrath to start that process immediately.”
Mulcair took ownership of the election result. “I assume all of the responsibility as leader of the party,” he told reporters.
The NDP leader said he wants a “top- level panel” to conduct the post- mortem, including outgoing MPs, current members and party elders who did not play a direct role in the campaign.
“I want an unvarnished, open, complete look at what happened and ( will) report back to you and to all members of the party on that,” he said. “I’m committed to overseeing this process to find the answers and to lead our party to government in 2019.”
Mulcair may be eager to stay on as leader, but his political fate depends on the results of a leadership review set for next spring in Edmonton.
The new NDP caucus has 44 members. The party held 95 seats at the dissolution of the past Parliament.
Support for the New Democrats was significantly reduced in Mulcair’s home province of Quebec, where the party was able to claim only 16 seats. In the 2011 election, the NDP won 59 of 75 available seats in the province.
While acknowledging that the party’s showing on Oct. 19 fell far short of expectations, Mulcair noted: “This is the second- largest caucus in our party’s history. Let’s never forget that, but I know and we all know that’s not enough.”
Ontario MP Charlie Angus addressed some of the party’s disappointment before Wednesday’s meeting.
“Certainly, when you go into a campaign with so much momentum and end up almost in free fall, you’re certainly disappointed,” he said. “These are things we will have to talk about as a caucus.”
Veteran MP Nathan Cullen, who represents B. C.’ s Skeena- Bulkley Valley riding, said that he doesn’t believe there’s a broad answer to address the challenges the party faced.
“There’s certainly some things we need to learn,” Cullen said. “I hope we talk about it ... but it won’t happen within one 90- minute meeting. It is going to be a conversation over time.”