During Thomas Mulcair’s visit to Kamloops last week, he spoke briefly before opening the floor to questions.
Among those queries fired at the federal NDP Leader was one from Kamloops Coun. Donovan Cavers, who asked if Mulcair could see the day when Canada’s electorate could find itself voting for only two political parties with a chance at governing.
Cavers posed the question in such a way to make it clear he views a two-party scenario as something not desirable.
Mulcair did not delve into whether he thought Canada will eventually join the United States (and B.C.) as jurisdictions where there are, de facto, two legitimate choices for government.
He did note there had been discussions in the past regarding a centre-left merger.
After all, the Conservatives only gained power when Reform/Canadian Alliance finally merged with the Progressive Conservatives (Peter MacKay’s blatant backstabbing of David Orchard on national TV notwithstanding).
However, Mulcair was direct and emphatic when he argued his New Democrats and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are not mirrors of each other:
“I’m proud to be a social democrat, but I don’t intent to be confused with a group [Liberals] that is interchangeable with the party in power on any given day.”
In fact, Mulcair’s visit, which attracted about 150 people to St. Andrews on the Square, was as heavy on warning voters off Trudeau as it was on demonizing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives.
The New Democrats became Official Opposition for the first time in 2011 thanks to the electrifying campaign performance of Jack Layton, who succumbed to cancer only months after the historic election for the party.
Mulcair, who is a very compelling speaker in his own right, repeatedly told the faithful in Kamloops that the fall 2015 federal election was the NDP’s to lose. In other words, he is not interested in increasing seats in opposition or in shoring up left-of-centre hopes via a merger — Mulcair is eyeing 24 Sussex Dr.
Whether he truly believes his party has a chance at becoming government in the next election, whether Mulcair truly believes the Quebec miracle of 2011 can be repeated there or elsewhere, is unknown.
But, when you are the leader of a federal political party and you are speaking to supporters in a riding held by a Conservative/Alliance MP for 14 years, you need to project confidence.
The NDP did represent Kamloops federally for two decades prior to 2000, so there is hope.
However, getting back to the merger question.
It’s a fact Harper and the Conservatives would never had gained power without a merger of the right.
The same may be true for the Liberals and NDP, if one was to accept those who vote for the two parties will cast their ballot for a combined party.
Mulcair’s visit was replete with campaign-style vows — and many echoed what Trudeau said when he attracted about 600 people to his appearance at Thompson Rivers University in January of 2013.
• Mulcair said the NDP would promote proportional representation. Trudeau spoke in favour of the single-transferable vote;
• Mulcair said Harper has damaged Canada’s reputation around the world. Trudeau said Harper has damaged Canada’s reputation around the world;
• Mulcair opposes Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. Trudeau opposes Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline;
• Mulcair said nobody should be denied post-secondary education due to economic difficulty; Trudeau said Ottawa needs to work with the provinces to ensure all have access to education.
Seems to me the NDP and Liberals have an awful lot in common.
Seems to me there may be egos on both sides standing in the way of creating a single centre-left party.
Seems to me Mulcair’s vow to lead the NDP into the 2015 campaign and not pursue a merger will only strengthen Harper’s Conservatives via continued vote-splitting.
Two-party systems may be frowned upon by some, but, failing such an evolution, will supporters of the NDP or Liberals ever see their parties in power?
Christopher Foulds is editor of Kamloops This Week. His email address is here. His blogs can be found here and here. Follow him on Twitter here.
