NDP’s leadership candidates make final pitches in Sunday showcase
After months of campaigning, selling memberships, raising money, soliciting endorsements and debates held across the country, the NDP leadership race is finally nearing its end.
The four candidates — Charlie Angus, Niki Ashton, Guy Caron and Jagmeet Singh — will take part Sunday in what the party is calling a Leadership Showcase. Each contender will have 22 minutes to make a presentation to a room full of New Democrats in Hamilton and the event will be livestreamed for members to watch across the country.
The pressure is on for the candidates as they try to make their case as the best choice to rebuild the party after its crushing defeat in the 2015 election. There are undecided party members out there, including MP Nathan Cullen, who told reporters at the NDP caucus meetings that he’s struggling with whom to pick.
He said he’s talking to the candidates and will watch their showcases carefully. “I feel like it’s a bit of a game show,” he joked.
MP Alexandre Boulerice, who is staying neutral and hasn’t endorsed anyone, joked that he wants to see fire and lasers on stage.
Results revealed in 2 weeks
“I want something fun, something that will unite the party and our members, that will inspire people for the fall but also the next 24 months to be ready for the next election,” he said.
Singh’s presentation will include 30 drummers to energize the crowd, and other candidates have said they will show videos, have people speaking on their behalf and bring their families to the stage.
NDP MPs Ruth Ellen Brosseau and Daniel Blaikie speak to reporters at the party’s caucus meetings in Hamilton on Sept.17, 2017. (Meagan Fitzpatrick/CBC News)
Ontario’s NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will kick off the event, then Caron makes his speech, followed by Angus, Ashton, then Singh.
The candidates say they’re feeling good about their campaigns and how the race played out and they’re excited for it to come to a conclusion. They will have to wait two weeks to find out the results of the first and maybe only round of voting, which begins Monday. Members can mail in their ballots or vote online, ranking the candidates by preference.
The ranked ballot means candidates, if not someone’s first choice, are aiming to be their second. The results will be revealed Oct.1 and if no one gets a majority of votes further rounds will be held. About 124,600 members are eligible to vote.
Some NDP MPs have said they’ve been in a holding pattern in Parliament while the party decides on a new leader and they are anxious to get someone in place so they can better tackle Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and show Canadians that the NDP would be a better alternative for government in the 2019 election.
National caucus chair Daniel Blaikie said Sunday morning that the showcases will be a chance for Canadians to see the future NDP leader and imagine him or her as the next prime minister.
Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp-s-leadership-candidates-make-final-pitches-in-sunday-showcase-1.4293903?cmp=rss