What happened to Thomas Mulcair and the New Democratic Party of Canada? Only weeks ago the NDP was Canada’s most popular political force — now it rates third, behind the soaring Liberals and the stagnant Conservatives. New Democrats undoubtedly hoped for more after their first term as official opposition in parliament.

Sadly, the greatest selling point of both the NDP and Liberals in this campaign is that they are not the Conservatives. Between the two, the NDP has most consistently opposed Harper’s policies. But New Democrats have utterly failed to present a fresh vision for Canada, one that transcends not only Harper’s apparent mistakes and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s apparent shortcomings, but the ideological chokehold of neo-liberalism on the Canadian imagination.

Mainstream political thinking in Canada is conservative, with a small “c.” It reassures us that our main struggle is to clear the already-paved road to prosperity, to defeat bad people and policies that are blocking our progress. Progressive thought tells us that since Canada is rich, but so many of us are struggling, there is something wrong with the structure of our economy or our tax systems. You don’t hear any of this from the NDP.

The party’s taxation policy is a big yawner. New Democrats want to increase corporate income taxes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent. While the NDP is the only party to even suggest an increase, it’s worth noting that the corporate tax rate was nearly 40 per cent in 1970. We don’t know if the NDP has a longer term plan on corporate income taxes, as it does for say, reducing pollution.

But we know New Democrats won’t increase taxes on Canada’s richest individuals — that’s a Liberal promise this time around. And the NDP pledge to reduce small business taxes from 11 to 9 per cent is identical to the Liberals and Conservatives. When you accept, as Mulcair and his main opponents have, that the country must nurture the economy so the economy can nurture Canadians, real change seems destabilizing and ultimately too risky.

The NDP’s promise to implement a $15-a-day national child care program for a million Canadians seemed like a distinction when it was announced last year. But Mulcair says now he needs at least eight years to implement the plan. Mulcair’s corporate tax hike is his tool to pay for the child care spaces — in other words, his inability to create more spaces in less time relates directly to his reluctance to tax corporations more aggressively.

The best example of Mulcair’s desire to signal but not necessarily deliver change is his cynical stance to deliver a balanced budget. As we have seen over several years in the last decade, Canadians will accept deficit spending if politicians make the case for it. The NDP’s budget promise says there’s very little to change about current government spending, or that the party thinks it must say so in order to be taken seriously.

Yes, the NDP opposed Bill C-51, which threatens to further erode our disappearing civil liberties. That stand truly distinguishes Mulcair from his major opponents, but not from Elizabeth May, who publicly opposed the bill weeks before Mulcair did. Some say it is easier for May, who has less to lose politically, to take clear, bold positions on issues. And that’s just the problem: the NDP has risen to opposition not through a new and exciting vision for Canada, but through an increased ability to sound as politically bland and unthreatening as the Liberals and Conservatives already do.

It doesn’t help New Democrats that their appeal for change is being delivered by an almost 60-year-old white man who (minus the beard) looks and sounds like most other politicians. Trudeau’s ability to symbolize change through his youthful appearance is an important factor in this campaign. Mulcair could contrast this by saying things most politicians refuse to say, by challenging Canadians with a new way of thinking about our country. He simply hasn’t done this.

It would be refreshing for a major political party to tell Canadians we do not control our economic destiny, and that we must challenge the neo-liberal status quo that is leaving so many Canadians behind. Liberals and Conservatives have proven they can win without rocking the boat. New Democrats probably can’t and should stop trying — the progressive change our country needs becomes more urgent with every passing election.

Desmond Cole is a Toronto-based journalist. His column appears every Thursday.

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