REGINA – As NDP leader Tom Mulcair tries to balance economic issues with environmental ones during his campaign, it appears the party is distancing itself from criticisms of the energy sector.
Take a three-year old tweet from Cypress Hills-Grasslands NDP candidate Trevor Peterson, calling for rejection of the Northern Gateway Pipeline. “It’s time to landlock Alberta’s tarsands,” it read, then linked to a petition.
Now that the comment has resurfaced in recent days, Peterson hasn’t responded to requests for comment and the tweet itself has since been deleted.
It follows star NDP candidate Linda McQuaig in Toronto Centre last week saying, “a lot of the oilsands oil may have to stay in the ground to meet our climate change targets.”
Conservative attacks followed. “The NDP is consistently against the development of our resources and economy,” party leader Stephen Harper said on the weekend.
“We’re in favour of creating markets for natural resources … but that has to be done sustainably,” Mulcair responded. “Sustainable development is not a slogan, it has to become very real.”
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Regina-Lewvan Conservative candidate Trent Fraser points to companies that support the oil industry, including steel manufacturer Evraz, which is one of the city’s largest employers.
“Should they not have pipeline to build … what that would do is probably promote layoffs,” Fraser said. “If layoffs happen, it hurts housing prices in the city of Regina.”
Ken Rasmussen, a political scientist with the Johnson-Shoyama School of Public Policy, suggests differing views within the NDP may cause one to question what they’re actually voting for.
“It leads to nothing but controversy, nothing but confused messages,” Rasmussen said. “I think it’s important for parties to have a consistent message across the country.”
All this with new battle lines drawn in Saskatchewan, creating a competition for seats in a province that hasn’t sent a New Democrat to Ottawa since 2000.
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