Thomas Mulcair gives his take on Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau in an interview with Peter Mansbridge roughly one year after being elected leader of the NDP.
The At Issue panel on CBC's "The National" analyzed the highlights of the conversation on Thursday night. The Huffington Post Canada's Althia Raj joined The Canadian Press' Rob Russo and panel regular Andrew Coyne for the discussion moderated by Mansbridge.
Mulcair expressed respect for the prime minister and said he views him as "someone's husband, someone's dad, someone's son, someone's brother." When he runs into Harper in the halls of Parliament, Mulcair said the two men are friendly with each other. The NDP leader also said many in his party are disappointed that he doesn't "demonize" the prime minister.
On Trudeau, Mulcair was hesitant to refer to the Grit front-runner by name, arguing he'll wait for the Liberals to choose a new leader before expressing his opinions. However, he did say it will take more than a "one-liner and a slogan" to get Canadians to forget the mistakes of past Liberal governments. Many of Trudeau's rivals have argued he is all style and no substance
Mulcair also discussed the NDP's push to abolish the Senate and the party's stance on the Clarity Act, the legislation the lays out the terms under which Quebec would enter negotiations to separate from Canada.
The full interview will air Saturday night at 6:30 pm on CBC Newsworld.
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