OTTAWA – New Democrats got their first taste of life without Jack Layton Thursday as the party confirmed rookie MP Nycole Turmel as its interim leader.
Layton’s hand-picked stand-in immediately faced tough questions about her inexperience, her laboured English and her past endorsement of separatist politicians.
She was forced to fend off Conservative attempts to cast doubt on the depth of NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair’s loyalty to his party.
And she seemed flustered as she dodged the most basic question: Why does the party need to go through the formal process of appointing an interim leader if Layton intends to be back on the job by Sept. 19?
Layton announced Monday that he’s taking a leave of absence to fight a second bout with a new, undisclosed form of cancer. Although he looked shockingly frail and emaciated, Layton vowed to be back on the job by the time Parliament resumes.
“Until he returns, I clearly have big shoes to fill,” Turmel acknowledged moments after the party’s national council unanimously confirmed her appointment.
“But I’m also fortunate to be standing on such a solid foundation. Jack Layton has spent eight years … building a team that is ready to tackle any circumstance with hope and optimism.”
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Turmel, a former union leader with deep roots in the party, conceded her rather stiff style will be no match for the media-savvy Layton’s folksy charm.
“He has a great charisma, we all know that. I don’t intend to have the same charisma but I have my own way to present things.”
She insisted her English is “strong enough to represent Canadians wherever they come from.” She’ll begin travelling the country immediately, heading to Vancouver this weekend and then Newfoundland and Labrador.
Turmel also asserted she’s a federalist who has adhered to NDP principles for 20 years, although the union she formerly headed endorsed some Bloc Quebecois candidates in the past. Turmel said she supported the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s political choices, as its leader, “not personally.”
As to why an interim leader was needed at all, given the short time Layton has vowed to be absent, Turmel said it was Layton’s decision and “we all agree it was the best solution for now.”
Several council members told reporters they didn’t discuss whether an interim leader was necessary or whether Turmel was the best choice. They said they confirmed Turmel because Layton, who joined the council meeting by teleconference, asked them to do so and they trust his judgment.
Layton remained on the job after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer 18 months ago and he plunged into a vigorous election campaign last spring just days after surgery to repair a hip fracture. His battle against the new, unspecified form of cancer, however, is evidently much more serious.
As if Turmel’s debut as interim leader wasn’t challenging enough, the Tories leaked to a reporter a claim that Mulcair had negotiated joining Stephen Harper’s Prime Minister’s Office before casting in his lot with the federal NDP in 2007.
Turmel noted that Mulcair, a former Liberal cabinet minister in Quebec, has openly acknowledged he’d been courted by the Tories.
The timing of the so-called leak suggests the Tories won’t let sympathy for Layton stop them from maligning the person they deem most likely to succeed him, should Layton be forced to retire permanently. Mulcair is widely thought to harbour leadership ambitions.
The Tories have launched similar pre-emptive campaigns in the past against prospective and new Liberal leaders, which were instrumental in sinking Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.
Topp said New Democrats should be “grateful for the compliment.”
“What it tells us is that they’re getting nervous about us, that they’re afraid of us, as well they should be afraid of us,” he said. “They can see that the Canadian people are starting to consolidate around a single opposition party.”
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