Party sees diversity as its strength
NDP the only choice for progressives, party leader says
The enthusiasm Jack Layton inspired in his party was much in evidence at the NDP’s first policy convention since his death in 2011, as thousands of party activists from across Canada gathered at Palais des congrès and gave their leader, Tom Mulcair, an overwhelming vote of confidence, Catherine Solyom reports.
As the popular and charismatic Justin Trudeau gets set to take the helm of the Liberal Party, Canada’s official Opposition billed itself as the only choice for progressives — the party with clear policies and an experienced leader.
That was NDP Leader Tom Mulcair’s message on Sunday as the party wrapped up its biennial three-day policy convention just hours before the Liberal coronation.
“The NDP is going to form government in 2015. The way we’re going to do it is to reach out beyond our traditional base, talk to progressives across the country and make them realize that only one result is possible if you want to get rid of Stephen Harper,” Mulcair told reporters.
“We’re the only ones who have ever stood up to Stephen Harper, and we’re the only ones who are going to replace him.”
Much of the party’s largestever policy convention, which featured nearly 2,000 registered delegates, was geared toward positioning it as the government-in-waiting.
But it’s clear New Democrats were conscious of the pending Liberal leadership announcement.
The backdrop for Mulcair’s speech on Saturday — in which he bashed both the Conservatives and the Liberals — said “Leadership” and “Experience,” a not-so-veiled attempt to contrast the NDP leader’s image with Trudeau’s perceived vagueness on policy and his political inexperience.
But some MPs in attendance downplayed the degree to which Trudeau was a topic of discussion at the convention.
“I’m intrigued how little conversation people have had with me about Trudeau,” NDP House leader Nathan Cullen said in an interview. “People aren’t talking about it. They’re talking about what we’re doing.”
While the NDP has largely ignored the Liberals given its third party status, University of British Columbia political scientist and former NDP candidate Michael Byers suggested that this weekend’s efforts to present Mulcair’s softer side and have him take on policy questions in an unscripted town hall session was definitely strategic.
“The town hall was an hour-long demonstration of substance and his ability to handle questions on policy in a rigorous way,” he said, adding the personal video featuring members of his family was an “attempt to connect with Canadians” by being more open about his personal life.
“It’s not an attempt to exceed Justin Trudeau on charisma, but it’s an attempt to present Tom as the very well rounded political leader that he is,” he said.
“I think Tom Mulcair and his advisers are hoping that Canadians will vote for someone that has an appeal-
“We’re the only ones who have ever stood up to Stephen Harper, and we’re the ones who are going to replace him.”
TOM MULCAIR, NDP LEADER
ing personality, who carries experience and substance and smarts and everything else we need in a prime minister.”
Mulcair, who avoided mentioning Trudeau by name on Sunday, dismissed the Grit’s favourable polling numbers, noting some polls showed the NDP in fourth place in Quebec days before it won 58 seats there in 2011.
He also sought to portray the Liberals as a party that has shifted leftward and rightward, breaking promises in the process.
“People will say that the Liberals will arrive with a new red book. We’ll invite them to read the old red book,” he said in French.
Asked about possible electoral co-operation with the Liberals to avoid splitting the progressive vote, Mulcair said if the NDP were to run candidates in fewer than all 338 ridings, it would give Harper “an advantage that he doesn’t deserve.”
He also harkened back to the failed 2008 coalition and the 2011 campaign, during which the Liberals rejected any co-operation among progressive parties.
“The Liberals are the ones who said there’s a blue door and a red door, and the answer from the Canadian public was, ‘Don’t let the orange door hit you on the way out,’ ” he said.
Mulcair and top NDP officials said the weekend was a pivoting point toward 2015 for the party.
Training sessions were devoted to topics such as volunteer recruitment, fundraising and other grassroots organization techniques.
International experts were called in: delegates on Saturday heard from a leading organizer of U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, and a minister from Australia’s Labor government.
It was all aimed at helping enhance the party’s ground game, a necessary move if it is to build on its unprecedented success in 2011.
“We know that our appeal is great,” Mulcair said. “We’re connecting with people who share our values, and we’re going to make sure that they understand that we’re going to be there for them after the election, when we form the government.”