Will Tom Mulcair Blow Up the NDP?

It's looking more and more like Tom Mulcair will survive his leadership review. Or at least get a two year reprieve. 

New Democratic Party Leader Tom Mulcair should have two years to rebuild the party’s fortunes before being replaced, but that could come sooner if he does poorly in next week’s leadership review, says one of Canada’s most powerful labor leaders.

But while Jerry Dias, a man who I respect, makes a reasonable case for not firing Mulcair.

I still don't believe that he's the man to renew the NDP...




And others like Murray Dobbin, feel that if he survives the party is doomed. 

If delegates recognize that the party faces an existential crisis, they will reject Thomas Mulcair and confront the hard reality that Justin Trudeau is making the NDP irrelevant. It's an intriguing paradigm shift. 

For 10 years, Stephen Harper fantasized about condemning the Liberal party to irrelevancy. Now the Liberals are in a position to destroy the NDP, sending the party, like Social Credit, into the dustbin of history.

Dobbin believes that Mulcair has never taken proper responsibility for the party's election debacle. 

Or for letting Justin Trudeau out manoeuvre him...



Tossing out the "run from the left and govern from the right" formula the Liberals have relied on for decades, Trudeau moved the Canadian political centre a huge step to the left, leaving the NDP completely stranded. 

The NDP cannot craft a credible response to this budget given its platform and Mulcair's deeply conservative politics. It can't come back from where it is today.

And that instead of sharing the blame, Mulcair should have blamed himself, and said and done the honourable thing.

What we didn't hear, and should have, was "We completely bungled the election and betrayed our supporters and the thousands of people who worked their butts off for months and gave us millions of dollars to campaign for their values. I am resigning."

Dobbin also believes that the party's famed loyalty to its leaders, could on this occasion prove fatal.

Loyalty is an important principle in any party. And if the NDP had a leader who knew when to get off the stage, it need not be a problem for the party. But when a leader like Mulcair is prepared to exploit it to cling to power, it is tantamount to a political suicide pact.

As for me, even though I voted for them, I don't know enough about the inner workings of the NDP to decide whether Dobbin is right or wrong.

And since I think Justin Trudeau is turning out to be a great prime minister, I have to admit at this point I don't really care.

But I have made my feelings clear.

And I still believe that whatever qualities Mulcair has, and he does have a few.

He is not a leader of the future...



For a very simple reason. When Mulcair moved the NDP to the right, and erased the word "socialism" from the party's constitution.

He didn't seem to understand that the future is left, and that for many young people "socialism" is not a dirty word.



And that since that poll was taken a year ago, a real left-wing leader like Bernie Sanders has no doubt boosted those numbers.

Which is no doubt why he is so popular with so many young Americans...



And for moving his party to the left, no doubt one of the reasons Justin Trudeau is so popular with young Canadians...



So all I will say is that this is a story with no villains. The NDP still has some good people.

But if it  insists on repeating the same mistakes.

They will end up with the same result...



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