In an unprecedented move, 52 percent of delegates opted to remove Mulcair and begin the search for a new party leader.
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He added: “In the months ahead, we will work tirelessly with our members to renew, rebuild, and strengthen this great party of ours”. He said that his successor would need to have the support from 100 per cent of members.
That should give the party plenty of time to rally its spirits and reach decisions about where it stands on the crucial issues of the day.
“We will engage in that discussion and we will make sure the points I made at convention are heard from Nanaimo to Cape Breton, and everywhere in between”, Notley said.
The weekend’s result came as a surprise to Mulcair, who insiders say believed he had strong support after two days of talking to delegates in corridors and on the convention floor.
While Mulcair visited Hamilton throughout the campaign, Jacek said it didn’t have the same “dramatic impact”. Though the forces pushing for a leftward shift seem to have the momentum, there is no predetermined outcome to this process of transition.
“Well, allow me to be blunt: This is complete and utter BS”.
Ontario MP Charlie Angus is also defending Mulcair as interim leader, but said he understands why Mulcair lost the confidence of delegates over the weekend.
Then there’s the matter of the Leap Manifesto, which highlighted the ongoing tug of war between those who wish to see the party return to its left-wing socialist roots and others who favour Mulcair’s centrist approach as the more likely path to forming a government – last year’s experience notwithstanding. When an American mainstream politician starts to look more radical than the leader of the NDP you know something has gone seriously wrong, at least for the NDP.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told delegates in Edmonton the party should support responsible pipeline and oil sands development.
Horgan isn’t the only provincial NDP leader left feeling uncomfortable by the Leap Manifesto which calls for rejecting any new pipelines.
I can only imagine the B.C. Liberals are salivating over the prospect of tying the federal NDP’s courtship of the Leap Manifesto to the B.C. NDP’s tail, and stepping back to gleefully watch the provincial party’s furious attempts to separate itself from all the controversy that may result from the positions called for by the Leap folks.
As if on cue, Alberta’s Wild Rose opposition immediately pounced the convention’s support for the Leap. “Will the premier back down from her own risky manifesto, seeing as she has failed to get Albertans the social licence she promised this would”.
Despite divisions within the party, Mulcair urged delegates to work together. Some of that criticism is deserved, but in truth he was in a tough spot – he was an honest, sincere and passionate guy who had the misfortune of following the-late Jack Layton, a leader who had achieved sainthood.
Mulcair said the federal Liberal budget proves that when it comes to child care and health care, the principle of universality – the cherished legacy of party founder Tommy Douglas – is in peril. He became the environment minister in 2003 under former premier Jean Charest’s government.
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Some MPs welcomed Mulcair’s plan to remain leader for up to two years until a replacement is chosen.
