Former veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran has thrown his hat into the ring in the race to replace Tom Mulcair as NDP leader.

At a campaign launch press conference at a hotel in downtown Ottawa, Stogran, donning an orange tie, pledged to stand up for the “commoners” against “Prince Trudeau.”

He said the Liberals are governing just like the Tories and described them as “the same old garbage, just in a different coloured bag,” and offered himself as a political outsider in the race.

Stogran said as NDP leader he would stay clear of “Politics Inc.” and Ottawa’s political “circus,” expressed his disgust with the daily theatrics of question period, and said he would spend time as leader communicating directly with voters to try to bring more into the party’s fold.

After taking questions from reporters, he said as prime minister he would get rid of MPs’ parliamentary allowances.

Asked why he’s running for the leadership without first running for a Commons seat, he quipped: “So is it rocket science?”

“I believe that the majority of people who run for government are treated like ‘first followers’,” he said.

“Brent Rathgeber resigned because he was not being allowed to present the point of view of his constituents. I don’t want to be a first follower. I’ve got to be in charge because I want to break the system. I want to set the conditions for success for the NDP so there are no longer two parties controlling the agenda.”

Stogran, a retired colonel, is running on a platform of government transparency and fiscal responsibility, although he also attacked “trickle down economics” for enabling “wealth hoarders to sit atop unthinkable mounds of cash while us commoners are facing poor pay and precarious work.”

He also said while the controversial LEAP manifesto contains good ideas, he cautioned against quickly leaping “to your death.”

“We cannot get rid of pipelines tomorrow,” he said.

Stogran has been expected to join the race for some time now and officially registered with Elections Canada this week, although has yet to pay his entry fee to the party.

Other leadership contenders so far include B.C. MP Peter Julian, Quebec MP Guy Caron, Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus and Manitoba MP Niki Ashton.

Quebec political outsider Ibrahim Bruno El-Khoury also plans to enter the race, although buzz has been building up over whether – or when – Ontario deputy NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will join the field.

Singh is already drawing fire from federal politicians.

In a fundraising letter today from Andrew Scheer’s Conservative leadership campaign, Conservative MP Mark Strahl described Singh as the “NDP version of Justin Trudeau.”

Candidates have until July 3 to register to enter the NDP race.

The next leadership debate is scheduled for May 28 in Sudbury, just after the Conservatives elect their next leader.

The NDP elects its next leader by preferential ballot in October this year.