From: brewnoserii@gmail.com   
      
   Globe and Mail - August 14, 2015   
      
      
   NDP recruits former Saskatchewan finance minister to run against Joe Oliver   
      
      
   Former Saskatchewan finance minister Andrew Thomson will run as an NDP   
   candidate in Toronto as the party seeks to boost its economic credentials in   
   the hope of forming government after the October 19 election   
      
   The NDP is stressing the importance of balanced budgets, tax cuts and   
   natural-resource development as the party announced a new star candidate to   
   take on Conservative Finance Minister Joe Oliver in Toronto.   
      
   In an attempt to push back at recent criticism of the party's economic   
   positions, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair delivered a clearly pro-business message   
   in Toronto Friday aimed at persuading Canadians that a New Democratic Party   
   government can manage federal    
   finances.   
      
   Mr. Mulcair announced that former Saskatchewan finance minister Andrew Thomson   
   will be the NDP candidate in the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence,   
   currently held by Mr. Oliver.   
      
   Mr. Oliver responded by warning in a statement that NDP and Liberal policies   
   would lead to deficits and high taxes should either party form government   
   after the Oct. 19 election.   
      
   In an interview, the new NDP candidate insists that won't be the case.   
      
   "There's no doubt that the first thing that has to be done is to bring the   
   budget back into balance," said Mr. Thomson.  "I think this is a debate that   
   will be about what priorities you move to the top and what you move down and   
   that's really what we're    
   trying to work through."   
      
   Mr. Thomson was a member of Saskatchewan's Legislative Assembly from 1995 to   
   2007, and was a member of cabinet from 2001 until 2007, when he left politics   
   and moved to Toronto.  He spent three years as a consultant with Cisco Systems   
   Inc., before    
   becoming its director of sales and strategy for international business   
   development focused on the Asia-Pacific region.   
      
   During his time as Saskatchewan finance minister under the NDP's then-premier   
   Lorne Calvert, Mr. Thomson released a 2006 budget that was heavy on tax cuts,   
   including cuts to corporate taxes.   However, he said Friday that he supports   
   Mr. Mulcair's plan    
   to raise the federal corporate tax rate as part of a "balanced" approach.   
      
   The NDP finished a distant third in the riding in 2011, capturing 11.6 per   
   cent of the vote.   A stronger NDP candidate could potentially benefit Mr.   
   Oliver if the non-Conservative vote splits between the Liberals and NDP.   
      
   An NDP official said the party wants to take the debate over economics   
   directly to Mr. Oliver in an effort to "crystallize" the election as a choice   
   between the NDP and the Conservatives.   
      
   Opposition parties are facing difficult decisions in crafting their party   
   platforms, given that the Conservative government left little fiscal room for   
   new spending.  Even the small surpluses that Mr. Oliver projected in his April   
   budget are now at risk    
   due to lower-than-expected growth.   
      
   That forces the opposition parties to either scale back their wish lists or   
   plan for short-term deficit spending as a form of economic stimulus.   Liberal   
   Leader Justin Trudeau said this week that the party's timeline for balancing   
   the books will depend    
   on the "mess" left by the Conservatives.   
      
   The NDP has not yet said whether its platform will be based on balanced   
   budgets in both the short and longer term, but Mr. Mulcair emphasized Mr.   
   Thomson's fiscal record Friday.   
      
   "The NDP's Andrew Thomson offers the people of Eglinton-Lawrence something   
   that Joe Oliver hasn't: a record of balanced budgets," Mr. Mulcair said.   
      
   Mr. Mulcair's announcement with Mr. Thomson appeared aimed at countering   
   recent suggestions the party would be hostile to natural-resources   
   development, driven in part by comments from another star candidate in Toronto   
   - Linda McQuaig - who said that a    
   lot of the oil-sands oil may have to stay in the ground.   
      
   Mr. Thomson described himself during a news conference as "a strong supporter   
   of our resource-based economy" and pointed to his experience as energy   
   minister when oil was $18 a barrel and minister of finance when it was at $80.   
      
   The riding recently featured a high-profile battle for the Liberal   
   nomination.  Lawyer Marco Mendicino defeated Eve Adams, a former Conservative   
   MP who was attempting to jump from her current riding of Mississauga-Brampton   
   South.   
      
   Mr. Mendicino said the NDP should have learned that the riding does not   
   welcome "parachute" candidates who do not live in the riding.   Mr. Thomson   
   lives in the downtown riding of Spadina-Fort York, while Mr. Oliver lives in   
   the neighbouring riding of    
   Toronto-St. Paul's.   
      
   Mr. Mendicino said the NDP's news conference Friday was at odds with the   
   party's policies.   
      
   "Mr. Mulcair bills the new candidate as a corporate, business tax-cutter yet   
   Mr. Mulcair is campaigning on raising corporate taxes, which is yet another   
   example of Mr. Mulcair speaking out of both sides of his mouth," he said.   
   ____________________________   
      
   Ooohh . . .    
      
   http://i0.huffpost.com/gen/1206140/images/n-THOMAS-MULCAIR-NDP-POLL-large.jpg   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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