Personal Reflections
Dear NDP Members,
I would like to thank Rebecca Blaikie first and foremost for
accepting to Chair the Campaign Review Working Group.
Her dedication to our movement is truly inspiring. The
Interim Report already provides us with many insights that
will allow us to learn from the mistakes of the last campaign
and correct them for the future.
Despite deep disappointment, there remains within the
Party a rock solid confidence in our core social democratic
values. I am inspired by that confidence and resolved to
better articulate our vision and communicate it more
effectively to all Canadians. I have also been heartened by
the wellspring of goodwill across the country for our goal of
a fairer, more progressive Canada.
Being ahead in the polls for the first half of the campaign
and then falling back to third by election day, only increased
the disappointment among members, our candidates and
myself. As a direct consequence, many experienced and
passionate colleagues are no longer with us in the House.
We were shut out of key areas such as Atlantic Canada and
Toronto. Our reduced Caucus also meant that many of our
brilliant and dedicated staff lost their jobs. And while we
were all heartened by our first victories in Saskatchewan in

 5 elections and our superb performance on Vancouver
Island, these positive results could not take away from a
shared sense of loss.
The interim report provides a cogent summary of some of
the specific lapses in the campaign preparation and
execution. I agree with the over-arching assessment that
our campaign came up short. As Leader, I take full
responsibility for these shortcomings. I could have done a
better job. It is my duty to the party and to you, our
members, to learn from and to apply the lessons of the
review.
If members grant me the honour of continuing to serve
them, I am determined to make the necessary changes so
that the mistakes of the campaign will never be repeated.
Some of the changes have already started.
To begin with, I'm thrilled with the shared sense of solidarity
and dynamism that has accompanied the arrival of my
Chief-of-Staff, Party veteran Raymond Guardia. He is one
of our most experienced organizers and is highly respected
by all. New Deputy Chief-of-Staff Jordan Leichnitz is a
woman who has made her mark on the policy front and
represents strong renewal as well. Together, Ray and
Jordan are overseeing the restructuring of our
parliamentary operations. On the Party side, stalwart Karl
Bélanger will be bringing his own vast knowledge into the

 role of Interim National Director, and will work to ensure that
our convention in Edmonton lays out the path for our Party’s
growth and future victories.
Second, we are overhauling the way Caucus works. We
spent far too much energy trying to avoid mistakes in the
lead-up to the last election. I believe this contributed
directly to that sense of cautiousness that is referred to in
the Interim Report. We must embrace a more pro-active
approach, one where caucus members are invited to initiate
projects that help us reach out to the people we represent.
We held a very successful Caucus retreat a few weeks ago
and this change is under way. Charlie Angus, as our new
Caucus Chair, is as determined as I am for us to succeed in
this transformation.
Third, the parliamentary wing must work more closely with
the party and the grass-roots. Sheri Benson, our new MP
from Saskatoon West, now sits on executive with the
mandate to ensure this happens. As for the upcoming
Convention, it is my fervent hope that members elect a
President and an Executive who will attract new people and
breathe new energy into the structures of the Party. I am
profoundly convinced that respect between the Party and
Caucus, and specifically respectful dialogue, will make us
stronger. This is an essential undertaking. Our base has to
know that they are the underpinning of any future electoral
success.

 Fourth, we are addressing the important observation from
the interim report that the campaign lacked an over-arching
narrative that could easily communicate our progressive
proposals. This became apparent when our commitment to
balancing the budget overshadowed our social democratic
economic vision which saw new government revenues
generated through higher taxes for corporations, closing
CEO tax loopholes and a crackdown on tax havens. Going
forward, we cannot content ourselves with simply keeping
track of which promises the Liberals deliver on and which
they break.
As I outlined in my speech during our caucus strategy
meeting, we do this by offering a vision that is based on our
shared values and the people we represent. We believe
fundamentally in a strong role for government in reducing
inequality and increasing opportunity in our society.
For example, when it comes to income inequality, we know
that over the past generation, economic growth of more
than 50% has not been of any benefit to the vast majority of
Canadians who built that economy. Canada's CEOs can
make 200 times the salary of a worker while families see
their purchasing power decrease. I believe this is grossly
unacceptable.
In an era where banks can eliminate thousands of jobs
while at the same time paying their executives $12 billion in

 bonuses, our task is clear. Only social democrats are
denouncing situations like the one facing 20,000 Steel
workers in Hamilton. Their retirement stands to be
destroyed because successive Conservative and Liberal
Governments refuse to act. They know they can trust us to
be on their side.
In closing, the review Rebecca and her team are conducting
will permit us to be in a stronger position to fight for a fairer
economy and to reduce inequality in our society.
Thanks again to Rebecca and I would also like to thank the
thousands of you that have participated and I look forward
to continuing the conversation when we get the final report.
In solidarity,
Tom Mulcair.