Here is the prepared text of NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair’s speech this morning to a gathering of the NDP caucus in Edmonton. For the sake of comparison, here is Stephen Harper’s main set-piece speech of the summer, delivered two months ago in Calgary. (Justin Trudeau will address a meeting of Ontario Liberals on Friday.) Consider all of these words in the context of an election that is now 12 months away.

What energy. What a team.

We’re just a year from the election.

We’re stronger and more determined than ever.

And we are ready!

It’s fitting that with just one year to go, we’re back here in Edmonton where our last campaign began.

On day one in that election, Jack Layton stood here with Linda, and reminded everyone that in Edmonton it’s New Democrats who defeat Conservatives.

Thirty five days later, New Democrats won 103 seats in the House of Commons.

And we placed second to the Conservatives in 107 other seats.

All across Canada, it’s New Democrats who can and will defeat Conservatives.

Cet été, les députés du NPD, avec des centaines de bénévoles partout au pays sont allés à la rencontre des gens.

Ils ont fait du porte à porte pour leur parler de notre vision.

Et surtout pour les écouter.

Comme la semaine dernière, à Iqaluit, avec Romeo Saganash, quand des parents nous ont dit à quel point les familles du Nord ont de la misère à payer pour leur nourriture.

I saw the phenomenal work our team is doing when I stood with Nathan Cullen and hundreds of British Columbians in Kitimat who came out to join us to protect B.C.’s northwest coast.

I saw it with our provincial cousins, Dominic Cardy and the New Brunswick NDP, who’ve got momentum like never before in the Picture Province.

And I saw it when Niki Ashton and I watched thousands of steelworkers from across Canada stand up to cheer our commitment to reinstate the federal minimum wage.

Et je m’en voudrais de ne pas mentionner les 1 300 personnes qui étaient à l’épluchette de blé d’Inde de Pierre Dionne Labelle à Saint-Jérôme il y a 15 jours.

Mais ce n’est pas toujours facile.

Après 150 ans à passer des rouges aux bleus aux rouges aux bleus, le monde commence à être tanné.

Partout où nous allons, les gens nous disent la même chose.

Les gens en ont assez de la politique “Blanc bonnet/Bonnet blanc” des conservateurs et des libéraux et ils ont le goût du vrai changement.

Ils ne veulent pas changer pour changer. Ils veulent voter pour un gouvernement qui reflète leurs priorités et respecte leurs valeurs.

Lors de la dernière élection, 40 % de tous les Canadiens n’ont pas voté. Plus inquiétant encore: 65 % des jeunes sont restés chez eux.

C’est le reflet d’une démocratie en déclin.

Et c’est notre devoir de leur démontrer qu’ils ont une voix et un choix, et qu’ils peuvent changer les choses que leur vote compte.

Et pour la première fois de l’histoire du Canada, grâce à ce que Jack a réussi, grâce à votre travail, le NPD leur permet de voter pour un gouvernement qui répondra réellement à leurs espoirs.

When Canadians look to Ottawa these days, they hear talking points, platitudes and partisan attacks.

They see unelected Conservative and Liberal senators with absolutely no mandate from the people of Canada and who have the shameless temerity to reverse crucial laws adopted by elected MPs in the House of Commons, like Jack’s historic climate change bill.

Well, more and more Canadians are saying “enough is enough.”

Canadians deserve better than that.

Well, you know what?

For the first time since Confederation there is real hope for change in the next election, thanks to the NDP.

For nine long years Conservatives in Ottawa, exactly like the Liberals before them, have taken care of themselves, while Canadian families fall further behind.

Conservatives have abandoned the most basic responsibilities of government.

Like looking out for our kids, taking care of our veterans, making sure our food is safe and that the train travelling through your town in the dead of night won’t explode.

Remember listeriosis?

Remember the XL beef recall, just two years ago.

That classic case of Conservative incompetence not only had millions of parents worried about the food they were putting on their family’s table.

It also threatened the livelihoods of thousands of farm families right here in Alberta and across the Prairies.

Instead of firing him, Stephen Harper let his agriculture minister make jokes about it.

Then again, this is the same Stephen Harper who can’t deliver grain to market, can’t deliver a fighter to our military—he can’t even deliver the bloody mail.

Yet he thinks he can lecture others on how to govern!

Mr. Harper has done one thing though:

He told a meeting of his billionaire buddies in the Swiss Alps that he was raising the retirement age of Canadian seniors from 65 to 67.

I don’t recall him telling Canadians about that pernicious plan during the last election campaign.

So it’s only fair to ask what schemes Mr. Harper is hiding from working Canadians this time.

The only way to avoid Mr. Harper and his policies is to get rid of both.

And the only party that can and will do that is the NDP.

Conservatives are proposing up to $36 billion in cuts to health transfers that will inexorably lead to more privatization of care and to a two-tier system in Canada.

Any surplus they try to boast about this spring will be on the backs of ordinary Canadian families.

Mr. Harper, if you want to cut something, start by cutting into the $50 billion in tax breaks you’ve given to corporations but leave Canadian Health care alone.

Les Canadiens ne veulent pas revenir à une époque où la taille de notre chèque de paie déterminait les soins que nos enfants recevaient.

M. Harper, vous voulez couper?

Commencez par couper les milliards de dollars en cadeaux que vous avez faits aux grandes entreprises.

Ne touchez pas à la santé de nos enfants, M. Harper.

After nine long years of Stephen Harper, Canadians need a team that has the leadership and experience to start cleaning up the mess that Conservatives have left in Ottawa and to reverse his policies, not share them as the Liberals admit they do.

The Liberals won’t reverse Stephen Harper’s corporate breaks, won’t bring in a national childcare plan.

Have said “no” to developing a true nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

In fact, the Liberal leader complacently affirms that over the last 30 years Liberals and Conservatives have had a largely shared agenda.

Maybe that’s why the middle class is doing so poorly!

After nine years of Stephen Harper, there’s no time to waste.

Canadians need a team that’s ready to work for them from day one.

And the NDP team is ready.

Les gens savent bien que le Parti libéral c’est toujours le même vieux Parti libéral avec les mêmes intérêts qui le contrôlent.

Le même vieux Parti libéral, mais avec un chef qui ne nous dit pas ce qu’il ferait de différent de Stephen Harper.

Pas de solutions concrètes, pas d’idées juste des phrases creuses et la confiance que comme par le passé c’est bientôt leur tour au bar ouvert.

Et pendant que le nouveau chef libéral est à l’avant-scène.

C’est toujours la même vieille gang libérale qui se cache juste en arrière du rideau.

Comme à chaque fois, le Parti libéral promet le début d’un temps nouveau :

« Faites-nous confiance. Cette fois-ci, c’est vrai. On le refera plus. »

Rappelez-vous de leur promesse d’éliminer la TPS? Quelle farce!

With just a year to go to the election, Canadians are being asked to sign another blank cheque to the Liberals.

They won’t tell us what they’ll do, but they think it’s reassuring to tell us that their guy’s getting ready!

Yeah, right, getting ready for what?

I’m sorry, prime minister just isn’t an entry-level job!?

After nine long years of Conservative policies, Canadians just can’t afford to wait for someone who’s “getting ready” to take on Stephen Harper.

We’re taking on Stephen Harper and his policies right now.

The NDP is ready to form a truly progressive government right now.

Aujourd’hui.

Alors que les libéraux et les conservateurs voient à leurs propres intérêts et à ceux de leurs amis.

Les familles, elles, ont de la misère à joindre les deux bouts.

Au Canada, la dette des ménages est en hausse constante elle atteint de nouveaux records.

L’Inégalité des revenus est maintenant comparable à celle qu’on voyait pendant la Grande Dépression des années 20.

L’économie équilibrée que nos parents ont bâtie depuis la Deuxième Guerre mondiale est en train de disparaitre avec la perte de centaines de milliers de bons emplois dans le secteur manufacturier et leur remplacement par des emplois précaires à temps partiel.

Et pour la première fois de l’histoire de notre pays, les salaires de la classe moyenne sont en baisse.

Au cours des 30 dernières années sous la gouverne des conservateurs et des surtouts libéraux, les 20 % les plus riches ont vu leurs revenus augmenter.

Mais tous les autres – 80% -s’appauvrissaient.

For 30 years, Liberals and Conservatives have told us that we have to accept less, that our children have to accept less.

But we know that together, we can achieve so much more.

Our message to Canadians is clear:

The NDP is on your side.

And we’re the only party that will still be there for you after the election, to stand up for you and your family, and to continue to fight to defend your priorities above all else.

You’re gonna hear us talking a lot about your priorities, which are our priorities:

Childcare, health care, public protection.

Creating good, middle-class jobs.

You know, when you come from a family of 10 kids, you learn to stick together.

You also learn that nobody’s gonna give you a free lunch.

But you also learned that no matter what, no matter what, no one gets left behind.

These are the values that guide me as a brother, as a husband, as a father, and now as a grandfather.

They’re the values that are at the very core of Canada.

And they are the values that I will fight to protect as your Prime Minister.

Notre pays fait face à d’importants défis.

Mais grâce notre expérience solide et notre détermination inébranlable et en travaillant ensemble, nous allons les relever ces défis.

On ne peut pas se permettre d’attendre.

C’est le temps d’agir.

Et cet automne, c’est exactement ce que nous allons faire.

L’équipe du NPD a une solide expérience et nous avons des solutions concrètes pour la création de bons emplois, pour la protection des retraites, pour les soins de santé.

Starting this fall, New Democrats will begin laying out our plan to create 21st-century, middle-class jobs.

That starts with helping the real job creators, small business, who are responsible for generating 80 per cent of all new jobs in Canada.

It means making Canada a world leader in renewable energy and clean-tech, a $3-trillion industry by 2020.

And it means investing in 21st-century infrastructure.

How can our cities create thriving local economies when they’re responsible for 60 per cent of our infrastructure, but have only eight per cent of the tax base?

Our cities and communities are at the heart of our economy.

They’re at the heart of our country.

And they’ll be at the heart of our success in the 21st century.

Just as we invest in the next generation of jobs, we have to invest in the next generation itself.

Over the last three decades, Liberals and Conservatives have repeatedly promised action on childcare.

And they’ve repeatedly failed to deliver.

In every campaign since the 1980s, Liberals have promised a universal childcare program.

Yet in 13 years in power, four red books full of promises, they simply failed to deliver a single child care space.

Maybe that’s why now they’re announcing they won’t even try.

In 2006, Conservatives promised to create 125,000 new childcare spaces. Nine years in power, they’ve also failed to deliver place for a single child.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

New Democrats are proud to be the only party committed to quality, affordable, accessible childcare.

And we’ve actually proposed legislation to enshrine those principles in law. That’s more than Liberals or Conservatives have ever managed to do even after decades in power.

This fall, New Democrats will put forward concrete plans to move step-by-step to comprehensive early learning and childcare based on Quebec’s successful $7-a-day model.

As respected economist Pierre Fortin has proven:

Not only does Quebec’s childcare program pay for itself by increasing participation in the workforce, but it contributes $1.78 to our economy for every dollar invested.

This is an opportunity we can’t afford to pass up

It’s as positive for the economy as it is for families!

And after 30 years of empty Conservative and Liberal talk it’s time for NDP action.

Bien entendu, puisqu’il est déjà doté de son propre système, aux termes de la déclaration de Sherbrooke, le Québec bénéficierait d’un transfert direct, sans condition, des sommes correspondantes.

Et je serai très fier de voir exporter le modèle québécois ailleurs au pays, tout comme le NPD l’a fait en santé en prenant l’assurance-maladie universelle et gratuite de la Saskatchewan pour l’exporter partout, dans l’ensemble du Canada.

C’est une simple question de bon sens et de bon gouvernement.

Le Parlement est de retour la semaine prochaine.

C’est le dernier droit.

Nous allons travailler plus fort que jamais et nous devrons travailler ensemble.

Notre équipe est solide, unie et très déterminée.

Et nous allons demeurer résolument concentrés sur notre objectif.

Le NPD est le parti qui peut remplacer les conservateurs par un gouvernement qui apporte du vrai changement.

New Democrats know that when we work together, no challenge is too great, no obstacle is insurmountable.

We are each and every one of us, driven by a rock solid belief that together, we can build a better Canada.

We know that this work is going to be hard but we are driven by our conviction that change needs to happen and it needs to happen now.

So we’ll do what Canadians have come to expect from us.

We’ll fight with every ounce of our strength to build a better country.

Every hope of every Canadian who longs for a better future for their children

Every Canadian who’s ever dreamt of fairness and equality has led us to this day.

The rest is up to us.

Friends, this is our moment.

To work together and build bridges.

To show Canadians that they can vote for the change they want and actually get it.

This is our moment to build the Canada of our dreams, not just for today, but for generations to come.

Together, let’s go get it done.

Thank you. Merci beaucoup.

On continue.