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Liberal MPs Trudeau, Rae dismiss NDP merger talk
Canada's opposition parties are focused on the future, as the New Democrats begin a new era without their charismatic leader Jack Layton and the Liberals renew their objections to merging the two parties together.
New Democrat staffers are moving into offices on Parliament Hill on Monday, where they will serve Acting Leader Nycole Turmel when Parliament resumes next month.
Until recently, the offices were populated by Liberals. But they are being claimed by the New Democrats, who are serving as the Official Opposition for the next four years.
While some pundits have suggested the Liberals should consider merging with the New Democrats to form a stronger alternative to the Conservatives, Liberal MP Justin Trudeau said that such a merger "is not in the cards."
Trudeau said that the Liberals are in a time of "re-think" and need to figure out a way to get back into the political game after suffering a historic defeat in May.
"We need to make sure that we're starting to connect with people," he told CTV News Channel from Ottawa. "But I've never been convinced that a merger is a viable option or a desirable option."
In fact, Trudeau said that the only people talking about combining the parties are reporters.
Brad Lavigne, NDP's national director, said the party is eager to return to Ottawa and to make their late leader proud.
"The party has never been more united than it is today. We've never had as much resolve," Lavigne told reporters in Ottawa on Monday.
"And we've never had such clarity of purpose as we do today coming out of the wonderful outpouring of support for Jack and the family."
Yet after the tragic loss of Layton, who died just a week ago, the party now finds itself dodging questions about who will pick up the leadership mantle from the late NDP leader.
Layton penned a deathbed letter in which he recommended that Turmel stay on as temporary leader until New Democrats elect a permanent successor.
But talk is already rampant about who could be in the race for the top NDP job, with several names emerging as possible leadership candidates. So far, Deputy Leader Thomas Mulcair and party president Brian Topp are two of the most oft-mentioned names.
Toronto-Spadina MP Olivia Chow, the widow of the recently deceased NDP leader, is also rumoured to be a potential leadership candidate.
CTV's Mercedes Stephenson said the early word is that no matter who succeeds Layton in the long term, the next leader will be obliged to continue to uphold the values that resonated with voters in the recent election.
"What NDPers are basically saying is that they see themselves as moving forward on the same values that they came to Official Opposition status with," Stephenson said.
"And that is their social democratic values. And they are saying that really, in particular in Quebec, this is what made them popular."
The New Democrats soared to new heights in the May election, seizing dozens of seats in Quebec and securing Official Opposition status for the first time ever.
Liberals look ahead to future
While the NDP saw new levels of success at the polls, however, the Liberals experienced new depths of failure.
Now a third-ranked party in the House of Commons, the Liberals hold just 34 seats and have been forced to take a hard look at what has made them lose support from Canadian voters.
A series of meetings taking place this week will focus on the rebuilding efforts that lie ahead for the Liberals.
On Monday, Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said the party needs to change its ways.
"I think we really have to recognize that the party itself has to change, the party has to improve," Rae said.
"We've got to do a better job communicating with the public and communicating with each other."
Rae also dismissed any talk of a merger.
"People are free to talk about whatever they want to talk about, but it's not on my agenda at the moment. I think we really have to focus on the Liberal party."
Rae also dismissed any suggestion that the Liberals will be left out of the limelight in the fall, as a result of their diminished status in the Commons.
Pointing to the fact that New Democrats were able to have their voice heard in the last Parliament, Rae said the Liberals will be able to do the same.
OTTAWA — Liberal interim leader Bob Rae on Monday accused the Conservative government of being a Canadian version of the Tea Party and using "whim or prejudice or ideology" when making decisions, starting with the economy.
At the same time, however, Rae said Canadians are looking for a Liberal "movement" that knows what it stands for and is prepared to take positions on issues that matter to them.
"Canadians want from us not simply a description of what we're against," he told party MPs, defeated candidates, senators and staff in a speech on Parliament Hill. "It's very clear they want a description of what we are for."
The comments came on the second day of a four-day conference organized by the party to study the last election and chart a new path forward.
Rae opened his address by paying respects to late NDP leader Jack Layton, whose funeral was in Toronto on Saturday.
With Layton's passing, some have predicted Rae will seek to position himself as the de facto official Opposition leader. And indeed, after telling reporters earlier in the morning that a merger with the NDP was not on his agenda, Rae used his afternoon speech to launch an unusually aggressive attack on the Conservatives and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"The Liberal party finds itself in opposition to Mr. Harper," Rae said. "We are going to fight his government every single step of the way."
In a sign of the tone that could mark this coming session of Parliament, Rae accused the Conservative government of basing environmental, health-care, economic and justice policies on ideology. For example, he said, the government is more concerned with lower taxes and smaller government than creating jobs.
In contrast, he said, the Liberals "are a pragmatic, practical party that believes in putting people first." He said a Liberal government would be more flexible in how it balanced the need for fiscal responsibility with ensuring Canadians continue to prosper before rolling out a new mantra that was picked up by the cheering crowd.
"The message is not cuts, cuts, cuts," Rae said. "The message is jobs, jobs, jobs."
Not all the Liberal leader's criticisms, however, were directed at the government. In fact, a good portion of Rae's speech was directed at his own party.
"Let's realize folks that in the last decade," he said, "the nature of politics in this country has changed. The nature of political organization has changed. And so we have to change."
Rae said the country is in the middle of a permanent election campaign and acknowledged that the party needs better fundraising, more recruitment and real policies and positions that resonate with Canadians if it wants to compete with the NDP and Conservatives.
However, in a reference to the success those other two parties have had at reaching out to and embracing the views and aspirations of average Canadians, Rae eschewed the term "Liberal family."
"Families are not always the easiest institutions to join," Rae said. "And if we want to appeal to Canadians to become part of something, we're not asking you to move our family.
"We're asking you to join our movement, a movement for change."
Rae, who was interrupted by raucous applause and roars of approval several times, said that if the party can accomplish this difficult and complex task, the Liberals will be able to successfully vie for government in the next election in 2015.
In accepting the mantle of interim Liberal leader after Michael Ignatieff stepped down in May, Rae pledged he would not seek the job full time. Speculation of a potential leadership run in 2013, however, has continued.
At the end of his address on Monday, Rae appeared to poke fun at himself, encouraging the gathered Liberals to "follow my white plume . . . but only on an interim basis. Only on an interim basis."
Liberal Senator David Smith, who co-chaired the party's national campaign in the last election, was emotional after Rae's address.
"He spoke with passion and feeling and warmth," Smith said. "And I'll tell you, the caucus and the Liberals here are genuinely inspired. Genuinely."
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