Interesting interview with Mulcair. He seems to be trying to play both sides of the field. On one hand, he says his main goal is to get rid of Harper even if it means forming a coalition with the Liberals. When pressed on why his campaign has been mostly against the Liberals, he says that the Liberals are no different than Harper.
Honestly, how can he be surprised at this point that Justin Trudeau wants nothing to do with him? He has been trying to take them down the whole campaign.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/...cair-1.3262833
Quote:
TOM MULCAIR: Well don't forget I was with Jack Layton. I was already there in the House of Commons and I helped write that coalition agreement. The Liberals signed it with us. Then they turned up their noses on their own signature. And guess what? Seven years later we're still stuck with Stephen Harper. So my job between now and October 19th is to continue talking to Canadians about the type of positive change that the NDP can bring in. Explain that if, as we see in the same polls that 70 per cent of Canadians do want change in Ottawa, the NDP offers a change.
CO: Okay, but what do you have in common with with Mr. Trudeau that could help you form a coalition?
TM: Every time I've opened the door to that, and I have as recently as this summer opened up the door to working with the Liberals, Justin Trudeau takes it upon himself to personally slam that door shut. So what I've got to do between now and October 19th is get as many NDP MPs elected as I can, to form a strong, stable majority NDP government. That's my job.
CO: Okay, you opened the door in the summer? How many other times?
TM: Four other times, most recently was July.
CO: And what was the reaction from the Liberals?
TM: Mr. Trudeau slammed the door on it as he has several times in the past. He's gone as far as to say that he could eventually work with the NDP as long as I wasn't there. That's their track record. Our track record is always being open to working with others and that's why Canadians know that they can trust an NDP government to do the right thing which is to get rid of Stephen Harper. That's my priority.
CO: But if your priorities are to get rid of Stephen Harper, why is your campaign against Justin Trudeau? Even your most recent ads are, again, attack ads on Justin Trudeau.
TM: My adversary is Stephen Harper. He's the person I have to defeat and replace. But it is also fair for Canadians to be reminded that when push comes to the shove, Justin Trudeau votes with with Stephen Harper. He voted with Stephen Harper on C-51. He's of one mind with Stephen Harper on the Keystone XL. pipeline. They both agree on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Only the NDP has the courage to say that Canada's richest corporations, the banks, the oil companies, should start paying their fair share of taxes. Mr. Trudeau would never do that so that's an objective thing Carol the Canadians are allowed to know about. There's nothing personal in that reference.
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That last statement might actually help Trudeau by convincing some more centrist CPC supporters to give the Liberals a shot.