I understand Layton is trying to make the NDP look more credible on economic issues by making Mulcair the party's Finance critic, but is it really that smart to but a former Liberal MNA is such an important caucus position? After all, the Charest government was about as neoliberal as they come in Quebec, and Mulcair did not do too much to distance himself from the government's economic agenda.
NDP Shadow cabinet - complete list
Jack Layton (Toronto-Danforth) Leader, Intergovernmental Affairs
Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay)Public Works and Government Services, Treasury Board, Democratic and Electoral Reform
Alex Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior) Agriculture and Agri-Food, Rural Affairs
Catherine Bell (Vancouver Island North) Natural Resources, Western Economic Diversification, Deputy Critic for Fisheries (West Coast)
Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic) Northern Development, Arctic Sovereignty, Deputy Critic for Natural Resources (Energy)
Dawn Black (New Westminster-Coquitlam) National Defence
Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona) Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain)Seniors and Pensions
David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre) Infrastructure and Communities, Public Accounts, Revenue Canada, Crown Corporations
Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) Citizenship and Immigration, Deputy Critic for Social Development (Children and Youth)
Joe Comartin (Windsor-Tecumseh) Justice, Deputy Critic for Public Safety, Deputy Critic for the Environment (Great Lakes)
Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) Aboriginal Affairs
Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley) Environment, National Parks
Libby Davies (Vancouver East) Deputy Leader, House Leader, Labour, Deputy Critic for Justice (Substance Abuse and Prostitution Issues), Deputy Critic for Infrastructure and Communities (Greater Vancouver Area)
Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre) Foreign Affairs, Deputy Critic for Crown Corporations (National Capital Commission)
Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst)WhipFrancophonie and Official Languages, ACOA, Employment Insurance
Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) International Trade, Pacific Gateway, Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
Wayne Marston (Hamilton East-Stoney Creek) Multiculturalism, Sport, Deputy Critic of Justice (Human Rights), Deputy Critic for Industry (Steel Policy)
Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) Privacy and Ethics, Deputy Critic for Agriculture (Canadian Wheat Board)
Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie) Human Resources and Social Development, Federal Economic Development for Northern Ontario
Brian Masse (Windsor West)Transport, Canada Border Services, Deputy Critic for Industry (Auto Policy)
Irene Mathyssen (London Fanshawe)Status of Women
Alexa McDonough (Halifax)International Development and International Cooperation, Peace Advocacy, Atlantic Canada Region
Tom Mulcair (Outremont)Deputy LeaderFinance, Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
Peggy Nash (Parkdale-High Park)Industry, Toronto Issues
Penny Priddy (Surrey North)Public Safety, Deputy Critic for Justice
Denise Savoie (Victoria)Post Secondary Education, Literacy, Deputy Critic for Human Resources (Training)
Bill Siksay (Burnaby-Douglas)Culture and Heritage, Housing,Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual and Transgender Issues
Peter Stoffer (Sackville-Eastern Shore)Fisheries, Veterans Affairs, Deputy Critic for Industry (Shipbuilding)
Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North) Caucus ChairHealth, Persons with Disabilities
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4 comments:
It doesn't bother me at all. If the NDP is going to grow, then new New Democrats need to come from somewhere else. He isn't a Liberal anymore! More Liberals should follow his lead. Social democratic thinking would suggest that we be open and receptive to those who want to help us. Leave suspicion and fear to Republicans and the Conservative Party of Canada.
Scott McEwan
LGBT NDP Executive Toronto-Danforth
I completely agree. The only trouble is that I don't know where I would have put him instead... Either way, it would not have been in the position of finance.
I'd like to give him a chance. He's being labelled a Charest Liberal all too often, on grounds which deserve clearing up.
Provincial Québec politics, particularly when he was in the mix, was divvied up between federalists, and nationalists. You'd have everyone of every sort in either party.
Certainly Mulcair might be a Liberal hack-- favouring program cuts and tax breaks; serenading the CCCE with a corporate savvy tune. We've seen this before in the person of Paul Summerville.
However, I've been at least somewhat impressed with Tom so far-- he's said nothing to really make me cringe (Paul did from the get go)... let's see where this one goes.
Lastly I might say that while I never liked McDonnough's hold on foreign affairs, it was pretty cool to have the Finance Critic, National Defense, and Foreign Affairs all covered by women. Now that the caucus is only 40% (not 42%) women, we gotta worry about that stuff!
I guess I'm not as willing to forgive the assault on trade union freedoms and students carried out by the Quebec Liberals in the last few years. Mulcair has done nothing, in my view, to distance himself from the most neoliberal aspects of Charest's government.
If he were to at least admit that those attacks were a mistke, that would be a good starting point.
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