NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair came out swinging Wednesday in London against the cabinet appointment of Joe Oliver, calling Canada’s new finance minister an embarrassment and a “hand puppet” of the prime minister.

In London to talk with seniors about topics ranging from pensions to postal service, Mulcair said Oliver has a record of insulting top climate scientists and First Nations people.

“Joe Oliver is an embarrassing nomination as minister of finance for a G-7 country,” Mulcair said. “This is not someone we should be proud of as a minister of finance.”

Mulcair said he had respect for outgoing finance minister Jim Flaherty who, he said, was a gentleman even if their politics differed.

He said Flaherty had “the courage, the experience and the authority” to question some of the policies of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

But not so the new finance minister, Mulcair charged. “He simply believes a number of things — no role for the state, let companies govern themselves — so we will not be seeing anything progressive in Canada . . .

“Joe Oliver is never going to question anything Stephen Harper tells him to say. Stephen Harper likes his hand puppets to be obedient and in Joe Oliver, he’ll get exactly what he wants.”

His assessment of London West MP Ed Holder’s appointment as Minister of State (Science and Technology) was considerably more generous.

“Hes a very affable fellow who’s got a fair bit of experience in the business sector and I wish him well. He’s got an important file to take care of and he must be elated, a year out from the next election, to make it to cabinet and I sincerely hope that he does a good job thinking of the public interest above everything else,” Mulcair said.

In an e-mail, a spokesperson for Oliver said his statement earlier in the day — that he’s honoured to be appointed and committed to continuing the government’s steady economic course — stands.

deb.vanbrenk@sunmedia.ca