March 27, 2012
Newly elected NDP leader Tom Mulcair (he says that in English he goes by ‘Tom’, not ‘Thomas’) was interviewed this evening for 15 minutes on CBC Radio One’s As It Happens. The interview was wide ranging and informative. (http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/ Part Two). Below is a brief summary.
I’m not sure what all the fuss is about concerning accusations that he wishes to take the NDP further to the right. His politics sound identical to former leader Jack Layton (and Mulcair argues as such). He gives a much better interview than Layton ever did. Gone is the scripted-sounding concerns that so characterized Laytons’ interviews. Mulcair speaks directly.
Stephen Harper’s corporate tax cuts have robbed the federal treasury of $50 billion. This is a major concern as we head into a new federal budget this week.
Concerning Mulcair’s alleged hostility to tar sands oil, he shares the concern of many on Bay Street that the Canadian petro-dollar is pricing Canadian-based manufacturing out of the world market. He wants more money spent to prevent pollution of water and deaths of birds, and he’s concerned about the health of people who live in the tar sands region, including Aboriginal people. But, “There is nothing wrong with Canada being an energy superpower.” And, “I have never used the world ‘moratorium'” to describe NDP policy on the tar sands.
Concerning foreign policy (of which not a word was said by any of the seven candidates during the NDP leadership contest, including during the leadership debate (in French) that was supposedly dedicated to ‘foreign policy’–ok, I acknowledge that Niki Ashton said during that debate that the war in Afghanistan was bad), Mulcair said he is in favor of world peace. It is his principle concern and priority. He was asked, “What is the greatest threat to world peace.” His answer was, “nuclear weapons.”
“What about Iran, then?” He favors “sanctions” against Iran, not war. Israel’s security will be better assured through sanctions, not outright war.
Mulcair said he wants to take Canada back to the glory days of Canadian peacekeeping of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. And what of the peacemaker, former Canadian Prime Minster Lester Pearson? “Lester Pearson was a model for what Canada has done in the past and should be doing today.” (Read all about Yves Engler’s new book and related speaking tour, ‘Lester Pearson’s Peacekeeping: The Truth may Hurt’, http://yvesengler.com/).
Finally, there was a brief exchange on the war in Afghanistan. Mulcair said the “way” that the war in Afghanistan started and has been dragged out is wrong. He did not indicate if there was a different “way” that matters could have gone there, and was not asked.
An excellent article on the election of Mulcair as NDP leader appears on Richard Fidler’s blog, Mulcair’s Victory: A new direction for the NDP?
RA
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