Recently I was asked where I stood politically, after the whole NDP-GPNL… thing. I said federally I was going to vote NDP and provincially I was a malcontent. But I 100% want Mulcair to be our next Prime Minister. Here is why.

He is intensely intellectual and super badass. I don’t use the bold lightly there either. Mulcair has this nickname, the Grizzly. He got it from pushing up through the ranks of provincial politics in Quebec as a Liberal, and making it into the cabinet table as a serious heavy lifter in the department of the environment. Not being bad-ass enough, he left the party when they wanted to privatize provincial parks (something our own provincial government could have used). Wanting to make an impact, and not caring for convention wisdom, he joined the NDP to run federally in Quebec.

Now the public tends to have a short memory when it comes to all things political, especially in the face of massive juxtaposition. Quebec had elected one NDP MP before in their history, and that was in 1990. The party had no history and no real roots there. The NDP had most certainly never elected anyone in the riding of Outremont, where Liberals had faithfully been elected with only one exception of a PC candidate in 1988. And he won.

Not only did he win, but he went on to help orchestrate the raise of the NDP as the primary federalist and progressive option for Quebec. Of course, much remains to be seen in the NDP’s ongoing success, as their history of success is wide but shallow. However, there are many positive signs to point to.

As Mulcair is often cited in saying, the party’s old ceiling is their new floor. Any day of the week anywhere between 1 in 5 to 1 in 4 Canadians want the NDP to run the country. This used to be considered an extraordinary event – and although they are often running in third to the other parties, it is with a much higher base line than before. On top of that, the NDP is staying strong in Quebec, staying ahead or tied with the Liberals with Francophone voters. These, often former Bloc voters, helped deliver the water-shed momentum that made the Orange Crush happen in Quebec. Staying strong in Quebec with that core constituency gives the NDP its base for their government. Much as the CPC has Alberta, if the NDP has Quebec.

So Mulcair did things right in life: he worked hard, went to law school, joined a mainstream party to work hard for his province only to be stymied by greedy corporatism, he then abandoned in grand fashion their Machiavellian government to start a new progressive enterprise for the whole country, and stuck to his guns on matters of conscious and ethics the whole time.

So on the big picture, he certainly has my admiration and respect. But then we get to the personal level, and I can really be excited about the guy.

For those of you that know me personally, I’m a bit of a loud mouth. I like to speak truth to power and get to the heart of the issue. Some highlights include asking Liberal candidate Walter Noel about how much public money he spent on booze, picking fights with my MUNSU cohorts over limitless bar tabs and credit cards for the executive, peppering Ryan Cleary with questions about bottom trawling, and demanding accountability from PC MHA John Dinn for getitng paid 10k to be on a public accounts commission that never met in public. So, I don’t really play nice all the time.

While I was living in BC I had the privilege of attending the BCNDP 50th AGM. As a volunteer I was able to meet local and national stars of the party, the grass roots volunteers that move the chairs and fill the packages for convention, and Honorary Life Time Members that had actually met Tommy Douglas. I was also able to attend a debate between the leadership candidates, and meet them face-to-face on the convention floor. I was, as they say, happy as a pig in shit.

So I had my question ready – why do you support a cap-and-trade system over a carbon tax. I haven’t written on a carbon tax in awhile, so I will extol the virtues of the policy later this week. But in brief I believe a carbon tax is more efficient and less prone to manipulation, corruption, and waste. Off I went to find Brian Topp and Tom Mulcair, the supposed front runners.

I found Topp first, and leveled my question to him. The answer was the one I could expect most often from politicos, one of equal parts condescending acceptance and deferral. It is to celebrate the most basic ability to have an opinion, while veiling a complete and utter disinterest in it. The zen master of politics can make you feel valued on a personal level, while ignoring any and all real concerns you might have. It is a sure fire way to defuse a situation, for most normal people. When I pressed him further, he gave me a nod and an repressively contemptuous smirk and said “we’ll have to discuss it later”.

Very well, on to Mulcair.

When I finally pinned Mulcair down the experience was as different as one could hope for. I asked my question, and got my answer in much the same fashion. His dismissal was marginally more substantive but still by in large just that. So I pushed further, and though I cannot remember my exact phrasing, it was something along the lines of “but your cap and trade system is demonstrably more corrupt and less efficient, as we learned from the European model.” And that, it seems, was poking the bear.

He waved aside his handlers and brought his trajectory back towards me. He faced me and looked me in the eye, and summarily began to verbally spank me for my understanding of the issue. He spoke fast – and I mean like, Newfoundlander fast. He had facts about the business in Europe, about the moral criticisms of trading pollution, about the discussions in California, and about the program he had helped foster in Quebec. He even entertained at least another follow up before his handlers refocused his attention and whisked him off to the next meeting. For the first time I met his lovely wife who thanked me for being involved and touched my arm smiling, saying sometimes Tom gets passionate. It seemed like an clean up she had done before in the past, but I am certain she saw the twinkle in my eye.

The man was pushed on policy and pushed right back with depth, knowledge, and focus.

I still don’t think that a cap-and-trade system is the best way to price carbon. I still don’t think his position on Israel and Palestine is the right one to take, though, I appreciate his general tact and candor on the matter if not his full set of conclusions.

But I want a national leader with experience, depth, knowledge, and passion. I want one who will and has stood up for the environment. I want someone who believes in helping working families. I want a national child care program.

I want #tm4pm.