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“It’s that the old-line parties themselves have become corrupted. They’ve become tired. They’ve given up on being accountable to the interests and expectations of Canadians. They’ve lost sight of what they came here to do.”

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That’s not to say Tom Mulcair was lying to his audience at a Canadian Club lunch in Ottawa Tuesday. But, to put it charitably, it was pure hoodwinkery.

“The only powerful interest any members of my Cabinet will ever be asked to serve is the public interest,” he said.

Really? Mr. Mulcair may not be the darling of the unions but he leads a party that was founded by the Canadian Labour Congress and the CCF.

Sweaty feet don’t come singly and you don’t get the NDP without their union brothers and sisters.

They’re not so much kin as joined at the hip. Despite electoral financing reforms, the party has twice been told by Elections Canada to pay back money it collected from unions that sponsored events at its national convention.

Mr. Mulcair was enthusiastic in his welcome for the creation of the new super-union Unifor, from the merger of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communication, Energy and Papermakers’ unions.

But even he wasn’t as gushing as the CEP’s national president, Dave Coles – and no wonder

“Can you imagine what it will mean to the CEP and CAW when we’re the first unionized party that governs a country?” he blurted.

The party continues to fight a rearguard action against any reforms to the union movement. NDP MPs like Pat Martin and Alexander Boulerice have been vocal in their criticism of private member’s bills from Conservatives aimed at increasing transparency in the union movement.