Head of Canada left-leaning NDP urges unity, split may help Trudeau

By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, April 12 (Reuters) - The leader of Canada's
left-leaning New Democrats (NDP), who is set to lose his job
after a poor showing in last year's election, on Tuesday urged
the party to remain united amid signs of a split that could
benefit Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The NDP, which has never held power federally, started last
year's campaign in the lead, but ended in third place after a
series of missteps. Members voted on Sunday to replace leader
Thomas Mulcair at a convention marked by open divisions over
policy.
"This weekend's vote must not divide us. Instead, let's work
together to choose the best person to take our project forward,"
Mulcair said in a statement on Twitter. The comments were his
first since the convention ended.
The NDP compete with the ruling Liberals for much of the
center-left segment of the electorate. Extended NDP infighting
may boost the prospects of Trudeau's Liberals in the next
federal election, scheduled for 2019.
"The most sure-fire way not to win an election is to make
your party look divided ... unless they can rally around a
common sense of purpose, they could realistically be in the
political wilderness," said Nanos Research pollster Nik Nanos.
Mulcair will stay on until a new leader can be chosen, which
could take as long as two years.
"They are in political trouble," said University of Manitoba
political science professor Paul Thomas, noting there were few
potential leadership candidates who could compete with Trudeau.
The 44-year-old prime minister's popularity has remained high
since the election.
The party is riven by strains between more centrist members,
including some unions and politicians who hold power at the
provincial level, as well as activists who produced a manifesto
calling for strict energy industry curbs.
Party members voted to study the manifesto.
The convention was held in Alberta, the heart of Canada's
struggling energy industry and a province that elected its first
ever NDP government last year.
Alberta premier Rachel Notley on Monday said the manifesto's
proposals to keep oil in the ground and slap a moratorium on new
pipelines were naive, ill-informed and tone deaf.
But federal NDP legislator Peter Julian, tipped as a
potential leadership candidate, noted the party had years to
rebuild and laughed off suggestions it was doomed.
"I've never seen a year ... where people have not been
saying that the NDP is on the verge of a crisis," he said.