page_title: 2012 New Democratic Party leadership election
section_title: Thomas Mulcair
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 New Democratic Party leadership election / Candidates / Thomas Mulcair
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Thomas Mulcair le 23 avril 2011 à la salle L'Olympia à Montréal lors de la campagne électorale fédéraleEnglish: Thomas Mulcair in the Olympia hall in Montreal during the campaign for the 2011 federal election
context_page_description: An election for the leadership of the New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada, was called for March 24, 2012, in order to elect a permanent successor to Jack Layton who had died the previous summer.
  The New Democratic Party's executive and caucus set the rules for the campaign at a series of meetings in September 2011. The election took place in Toronto and on the Internet. At the Leadership Convention, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Thomas Mulcair was declared to be the new leader of the party. The convention was to be held at Exhibition Place's Allstream Centre, but it was moved to the larger venue due to a greater than expected number of delegates registering for the event.
  The vote was open to all NDP members in a combination of exhaustive ballot and instant-runoff voting with one member, one vote; each member voted by preferential ballot in advance, or with a single ballot for each round on the day of the election. The entrance fee was set at $15,000 and each candidate's spending limit was capped at $500,000.
  Mulcair was the NDP's seventh leader elected since its founding in 1961.
context_section_description: Background
  Thomas "Tom" Mulcair had been the NDP MP for Outremont and one of two deputy leaders of the party since 2007, and has served as house leader and finance critic. Prior to holding elective office he was a lawyer and public official. As a member of the Quebec Liberal Party, he represented the Laval riding of Chomedey in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 2007, and was Quebec's Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2006. The Quebec Liberals were not officially affiliated with any federal party, and the federal NDP were not officially affiliated with any provincial party in Quebec, at the time and since. His mother is French Canadian; he was raised and educated and built his career in Quebec and is fluently bilingual.
  Date campaign launched: October 13, 2011
  Campaign website: thomasmulcair.ca
  Endorsements
  MPs: (43) Robert Aubin, Trois-Rivières; Paulina Ayala, Honoré-Mercier; Tarik Brahmi, Saint-Jean; Ruth Ellen Brosseau, Berthier—Maskinongé; Ryan Cleary, St. John's South—Mount Pearl Anne-Marie Day, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles; Sylvain Chicoine, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant; Robert Chisholm, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour; David Christopherson, Hamilton Centre Don Davies, Vancouver Kingsway; Matthew Dubé, Chambly—Borduas; Pierre-Luc Dusseault, Sherbrooke; Pierre Jacob, Brome—Missisquoi; Réjean Genest, Shefford; Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, Manicouagan; Sadia Groguhé, Saint-Lambert; Dan Harris, Scarborough Southwest; Jack Harris, St. John's East; Matthew Kellway, Beaches—East York; Alexandrine Latendresse, Louis-Saint-Laurent; François Lapointe, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup; Hélène LeBlanc, LaSalle—Émard; Wayne Marston, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek; Marc-André Morin, Laurentides—Labelle; Marie-Claude Morin, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot; Pierre Nantel, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher;  Jamie Nicholls, Vaudreuil-Soulanges; José Nunez-Melo, Laval; Annick Papillon, Québec; Claude Patry, Jonquière—Alma; Ève Péclet, La Pointe-de-l'Île; Manon Perreault, Montcalm; François Pilon, Laval—Les Îles; John Rafferty, Thunder Bay—Rainy River; Mathieu Ravignat, Pontiac; Jean Rousseau, Compton—Stanstead; Romeo Saganash, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou; Djaouida Sellah, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert; Glenn Thibeault, Sudbury; Philip Toone, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine; Jonathan Tremblay, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord
  Current/former provincial NDP leaders: (7) Piers McDonald former Yukon premier, Dominic Cardy, leader of the New Brunswick NDP; Herb Dickieson, former leader of the Island New Democrats; Howard Hampton, former Ontario New Democratic Party leader; Mike Harcourt, former premier of British Columbia; Edward Schreyer, former Premier of Manitoba
  Provincial legislators: (11) Buckley Belanger Saskatchewan MLA, Rob Fleming, BC MLA for Victoria-Swan Lake; Mike Farnworth, BC MLA for Port Coquitlam (provincial electoral district); Dale Kirby, Newfoundland MHA for St. John's North; Leonard Krog, BC MLA for Parksville-Qualicum; Jenny Kwan, BC MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant; Ross Landry, NS MLA; Brian Skabar, NS MLA; Graham Steele, NS MLA; Claire Trevena, BC MLA for North Island; David Wilson, NS MLA
  Past MPs: (8) Phil Edmonston, first-ever elected NDP MP in Quebec; Ernie Epp, former MP for Thunder Bay—Nipigon; John Paul Harney former MP for Scarbourgh West; Lyle Kristiansen, former BC MP; Steven Langdon former MP for Essex-Windsor; Lorne Nystrom, former Saskatchewan MP and 2003 leadership candidate; Douglas Rowland, former Manitoba MP; Ian Waddell former BC MLA, MP and cabinet minister
  Past provincial legislators: (10) Eric Cline former Saskatchewan MLA, Gary Lauk former BC MLA and cabinet minister, Peter Delefes former NS MLA; Elie Martel, former MPP for Sudbury East; Shelley Martel, former MPP for Nickel Belt; Frank Mitchell, former BC MLA; Roland Penner former MB MLA and cabinet minister; David Zirnhelt, former BC MLA and Minister, Andrew Thomson former Saskatchewan MLA and cabinet minister, Harry Van Mulligen former Saskatchewan MLA and cabinet minister
  Municipal councillors:  Jenny Gerbasi, Winnipeg city councillor; Da
caption: Thomas Mulcair
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