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Since all else has failed, Tom Mulcair has resorted to a desperate, but apparently successful, pitch to get his name in the papers – he’s called Donald Trump a “fascist” and urged Justin Trudeau to denounce him.

It’s troubling to find oneself responding in similar fashion to the family dog when someone mentions the word “squirrel”, but the NDP leader’s statement that he wants to be on the record opposing the possible election of a fascist as president of the United States was irresistible to the media – as he must have known it would be.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or John Ivison: Absent from national debate in Canada, Mulcair resorts to bashing Donald Trump Back to video

Yet it must be equally troubling to Mulcair, who faces a possible leadership review later this month, that he has been largely absent from the national debate since the election.

He has made a brave fist of becoming the social conscience of the nation, only to find the role already taken by the man sitting in the Langevin Block.

The NDP condemned the Liberal budget as being “long on rhetoric but short on dollars”.