Mulcair optimistic despite Liberal surge
MONTREAL— New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair says he remains optimistic in the face of a building narrative that Canadians who want a change in government are turning their attention to the Liberals.
“I share optimism and confidence with the people that I meet across Canada,” Mulcair said Wednesday during a campaign event in Dartmouth, N.S., when he was asked if he shared the frustration expressed by some NDP supporters with how much the media is focused on the Liberal momentum.
“For the first time in 148 years of being told that we have no choice but to alternate between Liberal corruption and Conservative corruption, in this election, Canadians have a real choice,” Mulcair said.
The New Democrats began the long election campaign this summer in the new and unusual position of being the front-runners, as anti-Conservative sentiment appeared to coalesce around them as the chosen vehicle for change.
That momentum has since shifted, especially after the public opinion polls showed falling support in their stronghold of Quebec, and the NDP has been working hard to convince so-called progressive voters wary of vote-splitting they are still the best strategic choice.
The constant refrain is that since the NDP already had 95 seats before the dissolution of Parliament, they only need to add another 35 to defeat the Conservative government.
That is not really how electoral math works, but the argument is based on a kind of political inertia — the notion that incumbent candidates, at least the ones constituents are satisfied with, are more likely to be granted another chance.
“When I go door to door, I have constituents who recognize me right away, they know what I have been working on and they are going to vote for me because I did a really good job in the last four years, so that certainly does help,” said NDP candidate Charmaine Borg, who is running for re-election in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne-Blainville.
Still, it is worth noting the New Democrats spent Wednesday in ridings they had picked up in the 2011 election, although a party official said being close to major media markets was the primary motivating factor and pointed out the campaign is headed Thursday morning to the riding of Lac-St-Jean, currently held by Conservative Denis Lebel.
The first stop Wednesday was in Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, where Robert Chisholm defeated Liberal Mike Savage by a margin of fewer than 500 votes in 2011 and faces a tough fight this time too. Then the NDP campaign headed to the riding of Repentigny, which the NDP took from the Bloc Québécois in 2011with the victory of Jean-François Larose, who later left the NDP caucus to found the Strength and Democracy party with former Bloc MP Jean-François Fortin.
This time, the NDP is running Réjean Bellemare, who said the party has worked hard to solidify the surprising gains made in the last election.
“The people came for the orange wave with Jack Layton, but they recognize the work the MPs have done in the region,” Bellemare said while Mulcair and his grandchildren toured a pumpkin patch in L’Assomption. Bellemare acknowledged some would-be NDP voters have expressed uncertainty since the polls have changed.
“Yes, it exists. Listen, like folks often say, if we win everything it would be a dictatorship, it would not be a democracy. So, yes, there are people who have left for that reason. We don’t think it’s a good enough reason and we think that the majority of people here in the riding, a plurality at least will vote for the NDP,” Bellemare said.