Vaughn Palmer: Eby, Clark, B.C. NDP scramble to 'save the furniture'
He then expressed the hope that the electorate would see its way clear to re-elect incumbent New Democrats, such as Victoria MP Laurel Collins. 'I really hope that Laurel is returned to Ottawa. She's such a good fighter for people on the Island.'
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Eby posted an online endorsement of Collins. At about the same time the NDP fired up a campaign claiming that 'here on the Island, only the NDP can defeat the Conservatives.' (Never mind opinion polls suggesting that the Liberals have at least as good a chance as the NDP of capturing some Island seats.)
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Then along came former NDP Premier Mike Harcourt with an endorsement of Carney, published Tuesday in The Vancouver Sun. Harcourt was responding to former Premier Gordon Campbell's earlier endorsement of Pierre Poilievre.
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'Unlike either (Justin) Trudeau or Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, Carney has extensive economic and business experience, backed up by a PhD in economics from Oxford,' wrote Harcourt. 'He is known and is respected by most of the world's political, business, labour, environmental and government leaders.
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'For all these reasons, I am supporting Mark Carney to be elected April 28 as prime minister, hopefully with a comfortable majority government, despite Campbell's misgivings,' wrote Harcourt.
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But he also threw in 'an important last word' in an effort to have it both ways.
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'I'm also urging people to vote for the excellent incumbent NDP MPs,' wrote Harcourt. 'Let's make sure the NDP have full party status in the next parliament so they can continue to advocate for important issues for workers and others.'
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Party status being 12 seats in parliament.
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You only get one vote, and Harcourt didn't break down where people should prefer NDP incumbents over Carney's candidates.
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But former NDP premier Glen Clark took a stab at it, while dissing the same corporate, banker credentials that impressed Harcourt.
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'When was the last time you turned to a corporate banker to fight for the rights of working people, or fight for lower housing prices, or champion public health care?' asked Clark in The Sun on Friday.
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'Let's not fool ourselves. Carney has literally stolen many Conservative party policies. He is not likely to change the status quo or challenge corporate control. He comes from that world.'
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