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“Are we just going to say ‘Oh, bad Conservatives, don’t worry, they’ll come vote for us?’ Or are we going to reflect on the fact that if we have a political class in our party that doesn’t believe they have to listen to the base, then what are we offering?”

Caron pushes ahead on policy

Quebec MP Caron remained the candidate most focused on policy, pointing to a tax plan he released this week that would introduce a new tax on the profits of financial institutions, and eliminate the stock option loophole that is expected to cost the federal government $840 million this year.

He also came down hard on the Liberals’ proposed infrastructure bank, suggesting instead that Ottawa could instead create a Crown corporation that would issue bonds at lower interest rates to raise money for infrastructure projects.

Pat Stogran, master of the one-liner

Newcomer Stogran, the only candidate with no political history, tried his best to “put a bit of fight” into the debate on Sunday, and won most of the laughs from the audience.

Asked about the best advice his mother gave him, the retired Canadian Forces colonel said she told him to “spit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up first.”

Asked about his first protest or strike: “I was a soldier.”

He also committed NDP heresy by criticizing the labour movement. “There’s a lot of millennials who resent the fact that they’ve been closed out of permanent jobs because of the labour movement,” he said.

They really, really love Martin Luther King Jr.

In true NDP form, four of the six candidates agreed that King is their civil rights hero.

Stogran, Ashton, Caron and Singh all picked the leader of the Civil Rights Movement in answer to a lightning round question, though Caron set himself apart by pointing to King’s espousal of a guaranteed income.

Only Angus and Julian broke ranks, choosing Attawapiskat First Nation youth education advocate Shannen Koostachin and Mahatma Gandhi, respectively.