4 candidates squaring off in 1st NDP leadership debate today

Canadians are getting a first glimpse of how those vying to become the next leader of the New Democratic Party are planning to position themselves as the NDP kicked off its first candidates debate Sunday.

To date, four candidates have joined the race to succeed Leader Tom Mulcair — MPs Peter Julian from British Columbia, Niki Ashton from Manitoba, Charlie Angus from Ontario and Guy Caron from Quebec.

Two more prospective candidates have asked the party for the forms needed to enter the race, but have not yet filed.

CBC is carrying the debate live on CBCnews.ca, Facebook, YouTube and CBC News Network.

The debate comes as the NDP is still recovering from the 2015 election which saw it running neck and neck with the Liberals, only to have Justin Trudeau pull ahead in the final stretch and form a majority government. Mulcair announced he planned to stay on as leader, only to lose a leadership review vote in a stunning turn of events at the party’s convention in April 2016.

The leadership race is likely to bring to the fore a perennial question for the NDP. Some members believe the party should stand up for left-wing, socialist principles – regardless of whether it helps NDP MPs get elected. Others, however, favour the decision made by Mulcair and former NDP Leader Jack Layton to move the party closer to the centre in the hopes of winning an election and being in a position to bring about change.

Is Trudeau vulnerable?

With Trudeau’s decision to approve pipelines and put electoral reform on the back burner, some observers see opportunity for the NDP to win back some of the progressive voters it lost to Trudeau’s Liberals in the last election. An attractive NDP leader could result in pressure on Trudeau to shore up the more progressive wing of his party.

Sunday’s debate will also be an opportunity for the four candidates to highlight some of their policies and the positions that distinguish them from their rivals.

Julian, for example, wants to get rid of tuition fees for post-secondary institutions like universities and colleges and opposes both the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline extension and Keystone XL.

Angus, who has made a mark as a feisty defender of the rights of First Nations and Indigenous children, launched his campaign saying he wants to stand up for “the new working class” – everyone from blue collar workers to white collar workers stuck in perpetual temporary positions.

Caron, who worked with the Council of Canadians then the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada before being elected, launched his campaign with a call for a basic guaranteed income for all Canadians.

Ashton, who ran in the NDP’s last leadership race, is pledging to fight growing inequality, privatization, deregulation and austerity.

Questions in English and French

As the debate unfolds, the NDP candidates are facing questions in English and French as well as participating in open debate, quick “lightning round” QAs and debates between pairs of contestants. While candidates are free to answer in either language, they are being encouraged to answer in the language in which the question was posed.

The debate is one of four official debates being organized by the NDP, although there are expected to be at least four more debates organized by other groups.

The deadline for candidates to jump into the race is July 3. Rounds of voting for the next NDP leader will begin on Sept. 18 and continue until one candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the vote.

Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca

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Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/first-ndp-leadership-debate-1.4020434?cmp=rss