Julian first to pursue NDP leadership
• After s e ven months of waiting, the federal New Democrats scored their first leadership candidate: Peter Julian, who had already technically registered as a candidate, finally committed to his leadership bid Sunday afternoon.
With the campaign phrase “seize the moment,” Julian made the 25- minute, bilingual announcement at the Columbia Theatre in New Westminster, B.C. and broadcast it live on Facebook. He has represented New Westminster and Burnaby in the House of Commons since 2004.
“Our vision is to change politics in this country. We have an appointment with destiny in the fall of 2019, just 33 months from now,” Julian said. “The next election will not be about polls or money or any of t he superficial things our national media love to talk about. The next election is about the future of our country and of our planet.”
Offering myriad clues about his platform, Julian emphasized climate change and clean energy. With no opponents to debate yet, he took a long- term view and attacked the policies of both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U. S. President Donald Trump.
A campaign website identifies four areas of focus, “climate change is real,” “we are the 99 per cent,” “on native land” and “love trumps hate.”
Although Julian is the first to vie for the New Democrat helm, and remains the only candidate who has filed paperwork, several others are expected to make announcements soon.
Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus quit his pos- ition as caucus chair in November to test the waters, and Quebec MP Guy Caron revealed Sunday morning he, too, is giving up a major position in the lead-up to an announcement. Caron said in a Facebook post he’s renouncing his duties as the party’s finance critic so as to continue seeking support for leadership.
The NDP is to announce Montreal MP Alexandre Boulerice as the new finance critic Monday, according to party sources. Caron said he anticipates making an announcement on the leadership before the end of the month.
Jagmeet Singh, the deputy leader of the NDP’s Ontario branch, has continued to hint at a possible run, saying last week he doesn’t have a timeline for a decision. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton has also said she’s looking into it.
As his colleagues deliberate, Julian has been fundraising.
In the 10 days after being confirmed as a prospective candidate by his party, with official registration taking effect Dec. 21, Julian collected more than $ 31,000, according to returns submitted to Elections Canada.
Most of the 58 contributions that added up to that amount came on Dec. 31, the last day of the financial quarter.
Some contributions were also directed to former party president Brian Topp — to help repay his debt from a previous leadership race, according to a source close to the party. Topp was the runner- up to current leader Thomas Mulcair in the NDP’s 2012 election, and has said he will not join the current contest.
After defeat in the 2015 election campaign, Mulcair lost a confidence vote at the party’s policy convention in April 2016.