Mulcair attacked in French debate
NDP leader defends position on niqab, independence and budgets
MONTREAL — With his party still ahead in Quebec but losing steam, Tom Mulcair was in unfamiliar territory for an NDP leader in a French-language debate — he was the one the others wanted a piece of.
In a debate that at times degenerated into inaudible shouting, Mulcair found himself on the defensive on a wide range of topics including balanced budgets, taxes, a woman’s right to wear the niqab and whether a majority of 50 per cent plus one in a referendum is sufficient for Quebec to declare independence.
“It’s the same old song from the NDP,” Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said. “The budget will be balanced by raising taxes. That doesn’t balance the budget. It eliminates jobs.”
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said Mulcair’s commitment to a balanced budget — unlike Trudeau’s own willingness to run deficits — would lead to “austerity” for Canadians. Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe implied that Mulcair bent spending rules during the 1995 referendum campaign, a charge Mulcair vehemently rejected.
The evening may have left a few bruises, but Mulcair held his own, and he can take consolation from the fact that the target on his forehead was a sign of NDP success.
This election is a far cry from 2008, when predecessor Jack Layton was a bystander in the French debate whose declarations of what he would do “as prime minister” were seen as adorable fantasy. Even in 2011, the NDP Orange Wave that would sweep Quebec was still a ripple at the time of the French debate, and Layton’s boast that the NDP could govern was openly mocked.
Mulcair’s task Thursday was to remind Quebecers why they grew to dislike Harper’s Conservatives over the past 10 years and to persuade them that the NDP is the best hope for a change.
Accusing Duceppe of leading the Bloc to the right on questions of Quebec identity, he said his aim is “to unite with a single objective, giving ourselves a progressive government to get rid of Mr. Harper.”
The niqab, a garment some Muslim women wear covering their entire face except for their eyes, has become a burning issue in Quebec, and it provoked one of the most heated exchanges of the debate. On the heels of last week’s Federal Court of Appeal decision that an Ontario woman is entitled to wear a niqab as she is sworn in as a citizen, a Léger Marketing poll published Wednesday asked respondents which event during the campaign had most influenced their voting intention. The No. 1 answer by far among Quebecers, chosen by 18 per cent, was niqabs at citizenship ceremonies. Nationally, only eight per cent of respondents chose it as the top issue.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also took part in the debate, but her effectiveness was limited by her poor command of the language.