It wasn’t pretty, but the New Democratic Party (NDP) found the man tasked with succeeding the late Jack Layton at their leadership convention March 24 in Toronto.
Thomas Mulcair, who was elected despite delays in online voting and an alleged hacking attempt, said he wants to reach out to young Canadians.
“They’re so turned off by today’s politics that they won’t take the time to walk down the street to their local polling station and cast a ballot,” Mulcair said during his victory speech at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
“You can vote for the change you want, and actually get it,” he added.
The Montreal MP won each round of voting, clinching the leadership position with 57 per cent of the fourth and final vote.
He beat former party president and veteran strategist Brian Topp, who was supported by many in the labour movement and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.
Broadbent criticized Mulcair during the campaign, saying the Quebec caucus leader would pull the party too far from its left-of-centre roots in an attempt to win over moderate voters.
Mulclair intends on reaching out “beyond [the party’s] traditional base and rally progressives of all stripes behind the NDP,” he said March 25.
Ottawa MP Paul Dewar dropped out of the leadership race after finishing fifth in the first round of voting. Visibly shaken, Dewar left the convention centre soon after the results were announced in the morning.
Carleton grad Niki Ashton, the youngest candidate at 29 years old, also dropped out after the first round.
The convention saw a wild finish to what many in the media called a boring leadership race. Underdog Nathan Cullen beat out four candidates, including Dewar, to go up against Topp and Mulcair in the third round.
The weekend also took a surprising turn when the NDP delayed voting because of what the party said was an alleged hacking attempt on their voting website.
The alleged hacking attempt didn’t compromise any votes, said the NDP’s principle secretary Brad Lavigne, who resigned March 23.
“The vote is very, very safe,” Lavigne said.
NDP MPs were back in Parliament March 26, promising to unite behind a new leader, despite the division of the leadership race.
“All together,” shouted Mulcair in French as he began his victory speech March 26. The 4,500-strong crowd echoed his first statement as leader with fervour: “Tous ensemble, tous ensemble.”
Mulcair’s first test as leader of the opposition begins this week. The Conservative government will release the 2012 budget March 29, which is expected to include limits to old age benefits and cuts to pensions for federal workers.
The convention is over, but for Mulcair, the real fight is just beginning.
