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With no record of its own running the federal government, the NDP likes to point to provincial New Democratic governments as proof the party is capable of solid fiscal management at the national level if given a chance to govern.

But after the spectacular defeat of Darrell Dexter in Nova Scotia last week — he was the first N.S. Premier in 131 years to fail to win a second term — federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair may be singing a different tune. The N.S. upset follows an abysmal showing in British Columbia last spring for the provincial NDP there.

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Postmedia News takes a closer look at Mulcair, his party and his plan two years ahead of the next federal election.

Hail to the Chief

Mulcair, a former Quebec Liberal, boasts of being one of the few anglophones to successfully climb up the ladder in Quebec’s civil service and speaks proudly of his Europe-inspired Sustainable Development Plan adopted while he was that province’s environment minister. The second New Democrat to get elected in Quebec, he shares credit for the so-called “Orange Wave” that brought the NDP to dominance in la belle province in 2011′s federal race. Mulcair is expected to move the party closer to the political centre inch by inch as the 2015 election approaches.