No fanfare for Mulcair

Lost in the news of the prime minster’s family vacation to the Aga Khan’s private island was another significant political story that most of the major news outlets ignored. Tom Mulcair is resigning as member of Parliament in the New Year.

The party doesn’t seem to be planning a huge sendoff for Mulcair, who was first elected to Parliament in 2007 in what was considered a stunning byelection upset.

The root of the hard feelings is obvious — Mulcair lost the election. For a few days, very early in the campaign, he was actually leading the national polls.

But as the campaign dragged on and on, it favoured a younger man who was physically fit.

Stephen Harper and Mulcair both looked exhausted. Justin Trudeau appeared energized, nowhere more obvious than the Liberals’ advertising campaign where he was hiking up a steep hill.

Mulcair was in a tough situation right out of the gate. He was following a wildly popular leader in Jack Layton who, due to his untimely death, never served a day in Parliament as leader of the Opposition.

Mulcair won a hotly-contested leadership race on the fourth ballot.

He never connected with voters, coming across as an intellect, but extremely stiff and cold.

His greatest moments in Parliament were his lawyer act when quizzing Harper on the Mike Duffy Senate scandal.

“Yes or no, did the prime minister know of a cheque to Nigel Wright? Yes or no.”

When the election came, the NDP dropped from 103 seats to 44. (Richard Cannings won South Okanagan-West Kootenay for the NDP, scoring well in both Penticton and Naramata, among other places.)

Mulcair, who came to Penticton during the campaign, had a platform that was more Conservative than Stephen Harper’s, confusing even the most loyal NDP supporters.

Mulcair became the first federal leader ever rejected by his own party members in a leadership review vote.

The NDP wasn’t realistic. The Jack Layton thing was a phenomenon, one that might not happen again for another generation.

Only 10 years before the last election, the NDP held fourth party status (behind the Bloc Québécois.)

The NDP is now riding on Jagmeet Singh for the next election. We’ll see.

A change was inevitable and the right thing to do.

Mulcair, however, deserves a better sendoff than the one he’s receiving, especially from his own party.

NDP chief is deserving of a better send-off

—James Miller Valley Editor