I found an interesting story this morning by Katie O'Mally that seems to show an distinct link between top Conservatives and top NDPers and a falling out with a Liberal party. Now this type of back room negotiations are always taking place, I find when it takes place at the level we see here, that seems odd to me. Thomas Mulclair is I believe the deputy leader and the fact that the Conservatives were trying to recruit him, that just backs up my assumptions that the two parties are far too closely linked to be effective as any type of opposition.
Strategic Leak Watch: About that whole 'Mulcair considered joining the Tories' meme ...
July 29, 2011 11:27 AM | Read 31 comments31
By Kady O'Malley
For a few minutes yesterday morning, it seemed that incoming interim opposition leader Nycole Turmel might find herself facing a political firestorm before the ink on her temporary installation papers had even had the chance to dry, courtesy of an incendiary tweet from CTV bureau chief Robert Fife that appeared just as the NDP federal council was gathering in a downtown Ottawa hotel to make her appointment official.
Here's how it all went down:
By kady o'malley, 21 hours ago
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Tories claim Deputy NDP Thomas Muclair negotiated to join Harper PMO before joining NDP. #cdnpoli
RobertFifeJuly 28, 2011 at 7:42
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@YaroslavB Sources say Muclair negotiated to work for Harper minister and than run for Tories. #cdnpoli
RobertFifeJuly 28, 2011 at 8:16
Unfortunately for reporters desperate for a new angle on what had been, thus far, a remarkably orderly, if unexpected, interim leadership selection process, NDP communications staffers were quick to point out that the claim that Mulcair had entertained offers from other parties before signing on with Team Orange was not, strictly -- or even loosely -- speaking, 'news' in any meaningful sense of the word.
Not only had those discussions had taken place nearly five years earlier -- in April 2007, when Mulcair was a political free agent following his falling out with the provincial Liberals -- but the fact that the NDP managed to win him over despite what must have seemed a tempting counteroffer from the governing Conservatives -- who, it bears noting, had a far stronger presence in Quebec at the time -- was widely understood -- and, in fact, reported -- back when it all went down.
From the Montreal Gazette (04/20/2007):
While Mulcair had been actively courted behind the scenes by both the NDP and the Conservatives, sources close to him said he chose the NDP because he felt it is best positioned to make a difference when it comes to the environment.
Those sources said the Tories were interested in the ex-minister because they believed he could help improve their image on the environment, but he turned them down once he realized they were more interested in having him toe their line than in adopting his positions.
NDP staffers weren't the only ones left scratching their heads.
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Are the Tories really leaking that they failed to nab Mulcair, before the party he went to won most of the seats in Quebec?
InklessPWJuly 28, 2011 at 9:58
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Pretty sure that Mulcair 'news' isnt. Profile or star candidates almost always shop around to or are recruited by all of the parties.
aligoldingJuly 28, 2011 at 11:06
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You know, I remember when Mulcair made the jump to federal politics. There was a betting pool over which party would land him.
kadyJuly 28, 2011 at 10:10
In any case, when the now formally, if temporarily, anointed interim leader appeared before the cameras following the federal council meeting, she was dutifully quizzed on the claim, to which she responded by pointing out that Mulcair had, in fact, decided to join the NDP.
Federal director Brian Topp, meanwhile, told reporters that he took it as a compliment, suggesting that the Conservatives wouldn't go on the attack unless they were worried.
So why did the Conservatives -- or, to be scrupulously exact, an unknown number of unnamed party operatives -- decide to dredge up the ghosts of failed star candidate recruitment efforts past? Was it simply an attempt to stir up internal dissent and suspicion with a strategy that, to be fair, has rarely failed them in the past when deployed against the Liberals? Or did someone not bother with a cursory Google to make sure that the 'news' they were attempting to plant was, in fact, new?
Given the campaign that the party waged against the two previous leaders of the opposition, it's likely worth keeping an eye on the Little Shop of Tories over the summer, if only to see whether they plan on taking the same approach to the NDP.
