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Federal NDP Leap Manifesto bad policy: Alberta environment minister

At the federal party’s weekend convention held in Edmonton, NDP members voted to pursue the left-leaning Leap Manifesto by holding discussions at the constituency level on its policy implications. Mulcair appealed to delegates to remain as leader.

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“They’ve been clear that they’re not going to be in support of Northern Gateway, they’ve been clear that they don’t support Keystone”.

Before to the convention, he said it would be “astonishing” if someone with as much political experience as Mr Mulcair were to be ousted, and that the NDP’s bench for who might replace him is not very deep.

The rifts exposed by the NDP’s divisive non-confidence vote in Tom Mulcair’s leadership deepened Monday as some New Democrat MPs questioned his intention to stay at the helm until a successor is chosen.

“At a time when Alberta is facing record job losses and worsening economic uncertainty, the Leap Manifesto proves that the NDP has never had our backs”, said Ric McIver, Interim Leader. The fact the NDP’s now most successful politician can’t persuade delegates in her home province to reject The Leap Manifesto is an indication that the NDP is fully embracing the left-wing ideology which saw Jeremy Corbyn become the leader of Britain’s Labour Party and has kept Bernie Sanders a thorn in Hillary Clinton’s side that show no signs of leaving.

“My fear of course, is that (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau is going to be able to slip things past the Canadian public with the two opposition parties looking elsewhere and not concentrating on Justin Trudeau”.

Stetski noted that a leadership race will bring the NDP caucus closer together and praised Mulcair for his leadership of the party during the last six months as a newly elected parliamentarian.

With Tom Mulcair out, don’t even ask Premier Rachel Notley if she’s considering to be the next leader of the federal NDP – it’s not happening.

Officially, Mulcair needed a majority of delegates at the convention to vote against a leadership election.

“It is also not uncommon for NDP governments to disagree with the federal NDP”.

“I’m asking you to leave here more persuaded than perhaps some of us have been, that it is possible for Canada to have a forest industry, to have an agriculture industry, a mining industry, and yes, an energy industry, while being world leaders on the environment”. Most polls suggest the NDP holds a slight lead over the Conservatives and Liberals.

That only alienated his host Albertan New Democrats and private sector unionists who had supported his leadership – at the very convention that decided his fate.

“The federal party is wrong on this matter”, Phillips told reporters at the legislature. “If I was advising the next NDP leader, I’d say you really have to … get people excited here”.

But Machum would have liked Mulcair to have campaigned with a different style, one he thinks would have connected more with Canadians.

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Peter Julian, a veteran B.C. MP, said Sunday the party is resilient and has already faced adversity, including after October’s election result and the death of Jack Layton.

Federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair speaks during the Edmonton 2016 NDP national convention at Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton Alta. on Sunday