All candidates agree at first NDP leadership debate
OTTAWA — It became clear at the first official debate for the New Democratic Party leadership Sunday that the four candidates are in complete agreement on essentially every issue — and they’re not afraid to say so.
It was a rah-rah atmosphere in Ottawa as Manitoba MP Niki Ashton, B.C. MP Peter Julian, Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus and Quebec MP Guy Caron expressed generally similar policy positions and built on each other’s arguments — a marked contrast from 14-person stages and wild policy differentiation in the Conservative Party’s concurrent race.
The bilingual debate Sunday sounded much like the NDP’s policy booklet come to life. “You’re very well-behaved debaters,” the moderator chimed in after one of many exchanges where candidates acknowledged their full agreement with one another. The crowd of partisan faithful — around 500 in the room itself, and another 200 in an overflow room — clearly found all this agreement agreeable.
With federal Liberals reneging on some of their more progressive policies, the NDP candidates appeared to want to harness populism on the left — and the party’s traditional working-class base — just like some Conservatives are trying to do on the right.
“(Trudeau is) not really progressive. He plays one on TV, but he hasn’t been the kind of leader that people seek,” Julian said.
Ashton said it’s time to be unapologetic about “building a movement,” and investing in organizing. “We have to ensure that we are reaching out to diverse communities,” Julian said.
Caron agreed: “we need to reconnect with our members, with our riding associations, with our communities and with Canadians.” This connection doesn’t happen in the House of Commons, he said. It happens “when we talk to people.”
Generally speaking, candidates saw income inequality and climate change as the two biggest issues facing Canada. “We all agree” on that, ex-finance critic Caron said.
Few specific policy ideas have so far emerged that differentiate candidates, although Caron said he would implement a national basic income — something all candidates will likely not be on board for — while Ashton has said she would institute free post-secondary tuition.
One issue that could become a major differentiating factor later on is how candidates will reconcile natural resource development with environmental policies.
Angus and Caron both praised how the Alberta NDP has navigated this issue in government. But rifts between Alberta New Democrats and the rest of the party — since provincial and federal are intertwined — could prove interesting.
Julian and Ashton seemed stronger in their opposition to pipelines, though all candidates, like their party, have so far rejected projects currently on the table, including Energy East and Keystone XL.
Candidates universally agreed on the need for the NDP to mobilize its membership and harness social movements.
“It’s time to take back our country from the rich and powerful and offer fundamental change,” Ashton said, adding a “neo-liberal agenda” from past Liberal and Conservative governments needed to be replaced with a new progressive agenda. The “one per cent” keeps getting stronger at the expense of regular people, she said.
Angus said while the government waxes on about the middle class, New Democrats can harness and understand the “new working class.”
They’re “white collar and blue collar,” he said.
“We need the certainty and the fire to say that power doesn’t just belong to the well-connected and the cronies,” Angus said.
On trade deals, the candidates were similarly skeptical. “God help Canada,” Angus remarked, after noting that Trudeau invited former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney to help with potential renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Aside from the foursome who debated in Ottawa Sunday, two others are said to be weighing their options for a potential bid: Sid Ryan, a longtime union leader, and Jagmeet Singh, the deputy leader of the Ontario NDP.
The next debate takes place in Montreal March 26, featuring questions from the NDP’s youth branch. The party will choose its new leader by ranked ballot this October.