OTTAWA— Billing himself as an everyman warrior who will fight for “us commoners” against the corporate-friendly political establishment, former veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran launched his campaign to lead the federal New Democratic Party on Thursday.

The retired colonel and Afghan war veteran railed against the Liberals and Conservatives, who he accused of governing in their own self-interest and leaving ordinary Canadians behind through unfair trade deals, corruption and the “fiasco” of trickle down economics.

He took dead aim at Justin Trudeau, claiming the prime minister hides behind “smiling selfies and loquacious lies.”

These include his broken promise to change the electoral system and a failure to adhere to a human rights tribunal ruling to devote more resources to the wellbeing of indigenous children.

“It’s just the same old garbage in a different-coloured bag,” Stogran said in fiery, energetic remarks in a hotel conference room, as he cracked jokes and strayed from the podium, pacing and gesticulating.

“Our system of government is morally and functionally bankrupt,” he said.

“I want to break the system.”

The Canadian Forces veteran served as a United Nations military observer in Bosnia during the outbreaks of ethnic violence in 1994. He also led a Canadian infantry unit that spearheaded operations in Afghanistan in 2002.

Stogran entered the public arena in 2007, when he was appointed Canada’s first-ever veterans ombudsman by then prime minister Stephen Harper. He accused the government of nickel-and-diming veterans, and his position was not renewed in 2010.

Although Stogran is registered to run for the NDP leadership with Elections Canada, he has yet to pay the $30,000-entry-fee and still needs to submit a list of the signatures of 500 members, party spokesperson Guillaume Francoeur confirmed.

Stogran’s communications director, Cameron Holmstrom, said they expect to raise the money and get the signatures in time to appear at the next candidates’ debate on May 28 in Sudbury.

At that point, Stogran will join NDP MPs Niki Ashton, Peter Julian, Charlie Angus and Guy Caron on the ballot to replace current leader Tom Mulcair.

In Thursday’s speech, Stogran said he wants to lead the NDP to bust the entrenched “monopoly rule” of the Liberal and Conservative parties, and to bring a new, compromise-oriented style of governance to Ottawa.

He said the social democratic party has never won power federally partly because members have been “reticent” to compromise on their principles.

Stogran’s NDP would pursue ideas such as an end to the use of fossil fuels, but this would be incremental, not rushed, he said. He isn’t against oil pipelines, for example, and he criticized carbon pricing and road tolls for having an outsized impact on people with lower incomes.

Scant on policy prescriptions, Stogran suggested he would push to eliminate parliamentary pensions for MPs and took a dig at Trudeau’s marijuana legislation for leaving “so many loose ends.”

He added that he hopes to “disrupt” a leadership race that has seen little open conflict between contenders.

“Their (the NDP’s) hearts are in the right place, but what they need is a pragmatic, long-term approach that works progressively towards these goals, instead of this piecemeal patchwork,” he said.

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He said his pitch to members is that he can fight for the party’s principles while bringing in moderates from outside the NDP who are tired of the “Politics Incorporated” of the Liberals and Tories.

Stogran heaved a sigh at the end of his speech, as if exasperated, and asked: “Now I’m a politician, how do I look?”

Moments later, he posed for a selfie with a supporter from the audience, Trudeau-style.

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