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Now, even before the dust has settled on Monday’s results, NDP stalwarts are moving precipitously again, declaring that there should be no question as to Mulcair’s future.  He will continue in place and that’s that.  Like running on budget balance, NDP rank and file are being told that it’s a matter of acting responsibly – of showing Canadians that the party won’t be rattled, that now’s the time to stay steady and to carry on. 

The truth is that asking uncomfortable questions at this time is not the irresponsible thing to do.  Failing to ask them is. 

And so the first issue that should be debated openly and directly by New Democrats is this: Why keep Mulcair? 

Was the NDP leader an asset or a hindrance during the 2015 election?  How much responsibility should he bear for the campaign’s failures and the disastrous slide back to third party status?  Is he well-positioned to rehabilitate the NDP in the eyes of voters?  Or is he likely to repeat key mistakes and take the party further backward? 

That’s just to start.  There are other huge factors that weigh in the opposite direction.  Is there a reasonable candidate for replacement?  What would the costs and discomfort be of changing leaders at this time?  What about their finances?  Most fundamental of all is this brutal but simple test: Will Tom Mulcair give the NDP the best chance of winning more seats in the next election? 

Reflecting on these questions should not be seen as sedition when they’re actually common sense.  It is true that Mulcair has handed the NDP their second highest number of seats in history.  It is even truer that he has led them to their most disappointing result of all time, losing more seats than any other leader working atop the NDP.  A considered judgment of self-interest is surely owed the NDP caucus and membership before they’re told what will happen next.