Caron joins NDP leadership race

The NDP now has its third leadership candidate in Quebec MP Guy Caron, who announced his bid Monday morning at a log cabin in Gatineau, Que.

The two biggest challenges Canadians face, Caron said, are income inequality and climate change, and it’s upon those two pillars that his platform will rest — a platform that includes a plan to launch a guaranteed basic income.

An economist who has represented the Rimouski area since 2011, Caron has served as the NDP critic for natural resources, industry and, most recently, finance. He quit that position earlier this month to consider a leadership run.

Describing a national atmosphere of “economic anxiety,” Caron pitched himself Monday as a socialist with smart fiscal and economic policy ideas.

“The political and economic class has relegated the needs of people to the bottom of their list of priorities, throwing crumbs from time to time to appease them,” Caron said. “Opportunistic leaders are taking advantage of the current economic situation to push policies based on fear and division . … There is a better way. Progressives have a duty to propose a credible plan to bring meaningful change to an economic system that leaves most Canadians behind.”

He accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of effecting little of the change he promised.

In his bilingual address, Caron described how he helped lay the NDP’s foundations in Quebec, including running three times unsuccessfully for the NDP before finally being elected.

His campaign will criss-cross Quebec with several events planned throughout the week, culminating in an event in Rimouski this weekend.

Caron’s announcement comes the day after Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus threw his hat in the ring in an event Sunday at a Toronto concert venue which also addressed the theme of economic disparity in Canada.

B.C. MP Peter Julian, the former House leader, announced his candidacy in his riding just over two weeks ago, meaning the NDP will have at least three candidates on stage at its first official leadership debate in Ottawa March 12.

Angus and Julian have both formally registered with Elections Canada, but Caron does not yet appear on the list of registered candidates.

The party chooses its next leader in October.

PROGRESSIVES HAVE A DUTY TO PROPOSE A CREDIBLE PLAN TO BRING MEANINGFUL CHANGE.