Nathan Cullen thinks politicians have to start putting people first.
The Skeena-Bulkley NDP leadership hopeful from British Columbia wants MPs to get out of the bubble in Ottawa and realize there is a large country out there full of people whose values aren’t being reflected in the nation’s capital.
“Parliament doesn’t reflect their values. It’s awfully partisan. It’s bitter. It’s pitting one side against another. It’s wedge politics where one part of the country is stacked against another; one Canadian against another. My politics are very different than that,” he said Monday afternoon at the Madhouse in Thunder Bay.
“Right now it’s an insult to Canadians. This isn’t debate. This isn’t how we talk to one another in normal circumstances.”
Politicians need to remember that their first priority is to constituents, not a party or its leader. The NDP forgot that when area MPs John Rafferty and Bruce Hyer were sanctioned for voting against the party on the controversial long-gun registry Cullen said. If he was leader, that wouldn’t have happened.
“We were wrong,” he said. “It was a mistake.”
Working together in a non-partisan way might seem like a novel idea Cullen said but it needs to happen on Parliament Hill.
“It’s turning young people off like we’ve never seen,” the 39-year-old father of two said. “The most connected generation in history is not connecting with politics by and large. We must change that pattern.”
Cullen, who considered the late Jack Layton a close friend and mentor, said the party needs to figure out how to stick to its progressive principles and keep the momentum up that Layton helped build.
“None of the gains that we have made, which were historic for us as a party, we assume will be there in the future. We have to work and scramble and claw for each inch that we gain,” he said.
But while Layton was a great man who helped grow the party, the NDP’s new leader will have to be their own person Cullen said.
“I think any attempt to try to be the next Jack would be a complete mistake and actually dishonest.”
The NDP will vote for its new federal leader March 24 in Toronto.
