Tom Mulcair confirms bid to lead NDP

In the race for the NDP leadership which has seen the odds until now stacked heavily in favour of Brian Topp, Thomas Mulcair, who in a display of sheer luck or political acumen led the party from a single seat in Quebec to a record 59, is positioned to become the longshot that betters and bookies alike dream about.

Backed by 33 MPs
During a campaign launch held on Oct. 13 in Mulcair’s riding of Outremont, his team trotted out 32 NDP MPs – mostly from Quebec with four from Ontario – who are throwing in their support. Topp has the backing of many NDP MPs from Quebec and the rest of Canada, as well as that of big guns like former party leader Ed Broadbent and ex-Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow.
Mulcair, on the other hand, has been touted by several media as the “underdog” and “anti-establishment” candidate, partly because his two leading backers – former NDP veteran MP from Saskatchewan Lorne Nystrom and New Brunswick NDP leader Dominic Cardy – aren’t shining stars.
“Tom has proven time and again that he can win,” said Cardy, who became the New Brunswick NDP’s leader last March after the only other candidate for the position was disqualified.

N.B. leader’s support
Although Mulcair is being cast as the would-be leader best equipped to broaden the NDP’s appeal to Canadians, and to reverse the NDP’s image as a party dominated by longtime insiders, it’s worth noting that Cardy is the co-founder of a moderate faction in the New Brunswick NDP, which advocates that party’s modernization, while also being identified with ‘Third Way’ liberal ideology.
While there is no pressing shortage of NDP MPs in Quebec, Mulcair already finds himself handicapped by the fact a large percentage of the Quebec NDP caucus is not supporting his candidacy, although they had initially been expected to.
In the Laval and North Shore regions, Mulcair, who was the Liberal MNA for Chomedey until four years ago, has commitments from Laval-les-Îles NDP MP François Pilon and Laval NDP MP José Nunez-Melo. However, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin NDP MP Alain Giguère has thrown his support behind Mulcair’s main rival, Brian Topp.
Laurin Liu, the NDP MP for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles just north of Laval, had not declared her allegiance by the Laval News deadline. Although Terrebonne-Blainville NDP MP Charmaine Borg also has yet to make a commitment, Mulcair has the support of Manon Perreault, the NDP MP for Montcalm in the Lanaudière region.

Pilon and Nunez-Melo’s support
In an interview with the Laval News, Pilon, who along with Nunez-Melo attended the Mulcair campaign kickoff, explained why he chose Mulcair. “I looked at the list of potential candidates,” he said. “The two most likely were Brian and Tom. Brian has a lot of experience in the NDP, but no experience in Parliament. I decided that the one who is most apt to bring us into power is Tom. He’s the one with the most experience.”
Pilon didn’t disagree that Mulcair’s reputation as the “Grizzly” – a nickname the bearded Mulcair was given during his years in opposition in Quebec City, when he would “maul” members of the PQ government – could turn into an asset for the NDP going up against the ruling Conservatives.
“There’s no doubt he’s perceived as meaner than Jack Layton,” Pilon said, while adding that a leader who’s more provocative than Layton could change the “dynamic” in the House of Commons. “Jack used to do things without attacking and with more subtlety,” he continued. “There might not be more confrontation, but the debates could have more edge.”

Campaign gets underway
Looking somewhat tense in front of several hundred supporters and an aggressive contingent of media, and talking too quickly at times, Mulcair read for the most part from a prepared bilingual text, rather than speaking off the cuff.
“This leadership race is about taking the person who is best placed to beat Stephen Harper in the next election,” he said. “But in order to defeat Stephen Harper we have to work on races elsewhere while maintaining our support here in Quebec.”
Mulcair’s biggest challenge – a woeful lack of NDP party members in Quebec – undermines his chances at the leadership convention, although apparently it is still not being taken seriously by party brass. Mulcair said he was calling upon NDP volunteers and officials, “both locally and nationally, to help keep this both a clean and an honest campaign and a fair one.”
On the subject of the NDP growing, Mulcair said the party has to “become something we’ve never been in order to achieve the ambitious goals we set for ourselves … Let’s have the courage to do things differently. Let’s have enough faith in ourselves to grow where we’ve never been before.”
He said it would be necessary to reach out to Canadians “beyond our traditional base. That’s how we connected with all Quebecers with a promise to respect and reflect their values.”

Hopes to form gov’t
Mulcair, who was director of legal affairs during the early 1980s at the now defunct anglophone interest group Alliance Quebec, added that “those of us who fought in the two Quebec referendums also understand that the promises made and broken by the Liberals and Conservatives have left deep scars.”
In a dig at the Harper government, he said the NDP has “a duty to reach out to all progressive forces in society, so that we can not only oppose the Conservatives, but we can replace them.” Saying he would continue the work started by the NDP’s late leader Jack Layton, Mulcair pledged to “build the party, I will unite the party, I will continue to work tirelessly to present to Canadians a real alternative in the next election.”