Thomas Mulcair is leader of the official Opposition because he knows how
to take the gloves off when facing a fight-dirty opponent.
The voters who've always backed the 'party of the people', the NDP,
learned this when they got a taste of rightwing governments' tactics -
both to win elections and during their governing.
Mulcair is right. The 'be the more ethical candidate' thing doesn't
work when you're in the ring with someone hiding razor blades in their
gloves.
Adrian Dix seemed like a very concerned, ethical and well-intentioned
party leader willing to take on the role of Premier of the promise. But
he underestimated the blood lust of the Liberal party and its leader.
We need another Tom Mulcair type to lead the NDP in British Columbia.
I'm keeping an eye on David Eby - who snatched the seat of the current
Premier in her own riding. He's a strong, composed and very astute
politician. Watch him in this video:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/raw-david-eby-beats-christy-193000973.html
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Toronto Star - May 14, 2013
Thomas Mulcair: B.C. NDP stumbled on fate of pipeline and Liberal attack ads
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, right, told the Toronto Star editorial board
Wednesday that attack ads tend to turn people off politics, but avoiding
them isn’t a worthwhile strategy if constituents aren’t fired up to vote.
The federal New Democrats have already begun to sift through the
wreckage of the failed British Columbia NDP campaign, Thomas Mulcair
told the Star editorial board Wednesday.
“We’ve started to go through the debris to find out exactly what
happened,” the NDP leader said. “I started having those conversations
early this morning.”
Mulcair said B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix — widely predicted by pollsters
and pundits to win the election — likely stumbled by declaring an
all-out “no” to the Kinder Morgan pipeline and by refusing to respond to
Liberal attack ads.
The party made a “resolute decision” to keep Dix’s campaign positive,
which unfortunately backfired, Mulcair said.
“I’m anything but a Pollyanna on this stuff, but I do think something is
being lost when the overarching message is, ‘You have no choice. You
have to respond to an attack with an attack.’ ”
He said attack ads tend to turn people off politics, but avoiding them
isn’t a worthwhile strategy if constituents aren’t fired up to vote.
Only 48 per cent of British Columbians cast a ballot Tuesday.
“If that meant a lot of your people just lost faith and didn’t bother .
. . then nothing has been gained by the dignity of not (responding),” he
said. “The attacks played out strongly and produced the desired effect.”
Dix’s opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which would triple the
capacity of an existing pipeline carrying crude oil from Alberta to
B.C.’s coast, was too strongly worded, Mulcair added.
“Given the gutting of environmental assessments in Canada, you can’t say
yes to a project like Kinder Morgan,” said Mulcair. “The absolute no
would have been best stated as, ‘It can’t be yes under the current
process.’ ”
Mulcair, who spent several days last month campaigning with Dix, praised
the B.C. leader as an “extraordinarily classy and competent individual.”
He said the 39.5 per cent of the popular vote the NDP won bodes well for
the federal party. That means they have a strong enough base to win a
majority in the province in the next federal election, he said.
During the meeting with the Star, Mulcair also discussed the need for
greater infrastructure spending for cities and his plans to expand the
Canadian economy.
He said investing in early childhood learning and improving recognition
of immigrants’ credentials would be key elements of the NDP platform
that would help lower-class and middle-class Canadians.
The NDP supports sustainable resource development and has been pushing
for an east-west Keystone pipeline that would bring jobs to Canadians
and preserve domestic energy security, he added.
Mulcair also assured voters he has no intention of playing the nice guy
as opposition leader or during the 2015 election.
“I learned my politics in a very tough neighbourhood, Quebec City, and
no, I’m not one for taking it,” he said. “I deliver a very good fight to
my adversaries, and Mr. Harper’s learned that.”