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Left-Wing Contender to Lead Canada Accused of Once Wanting to Be a Conservative After Surge in Polls

The allegations, which aren’t new and are now coming from current and former senior Conservative staffers, mean NDP leader Thomas Mulcair is facing renewed scrutiny as the fall election nears.
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The leader of Canada's New Democratic Party and official opposition — a left-wing party that in recent weeks has become a serious contender in the upcoming fall election — had to again confront allegations that he was flirting with joining the ruling Conservative Party as an adviser in 2007.

The allegations, which aren't new and are now coming from current and former senior Conservative staffers, mean NDP leader Thomas Mulcair is facing renewed scrutiny after a recent surge in the polls.

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Neither side agrees on exactly what happened back in 2007 before Mulcair joined the NDP.

In a report published by Maclean's Magazine on Monday, Tory staffers say Mulcair was in talks with the Conservatives to serve as an adviser to the party and would later have run as a Conservative candidate in 2008.

Former Conservative press secretary Dimitri Soudas went on the record with Maclean's Magazine, saying, "[Mr. Mulcair] told me he wanted $300,000 a year and that was his bottom line and, basically, I got back to him, saying I couldn't go higher [sic] that $180,000 and I never heard back from him ever again. Two or three months later, he made the jump to the NDP."

On Tuesday, the NDP leader told reporters he had "absolutely no intention of running for the Conservatives."

Mulcair also told the magazine he didn't negotiate with Soudas, "I absolutely never spoke with Mr. Soudas at the time."

The NDP leader told Maclean's he had a "substantial offer from a top law firm to join their environment section that was well beyond anything available in public service or with a party."

He said talks with the Conservatives broke down over the party's environmental policies on Kyoto and climate change, and the salary was not important.

After he ceased contact with the Conservatives, Mulcair joined the NDP in April 2007. Five months later he was elected as a member of parliament.

In March 2012, after former party leader Jack Layton died, he was elected NDP leader with 57 percent of the vote.

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In recent weeks the NDP has emerged in the polls as a serious threat to the majority Conservative Party, while other polls suggest the election will be a three-way race between the Liberals, the Conservatives and the NDP.

The NDP's recent surge comes after the Liberals and Conservatives supported controversial Bill c-51, Canada's sweeping approach to combatting terrorism that is now law.

The reports of Mulcair keeping his options open with the Conservatives aren't new. And they also conflict somewhat with previous reports.

Maclean's Magazine writes that it knew of the allegations against Mulcair "several months ago" but couldn't verify them until now.

The reports of his meetings with the Conservatives go back to the Montreal Gazette in 2007, leading reporters on Parliament Hill to question whether the renewed allegations were strategically leaked by the Liberals ahead of the election.

In 2012, the Toronto Star reported that, according to "senior New Democrats," Mulcair was talking to both the NDP and the Conservatives in 2007 without telling either side he was talking to the other.

The Toronto Star reported he was asking for $150,000, which conflicts with the Maclean's report of $300,000.

Back then, Mulcair told the Toronto Star in an email the Conservatives wanted to "use me" to bolster their environmental image. He told the Star all four Canadian political parties approached him—first the Greens, then the NDP, followed by the Conservatives and the Liberals.

Whether the allegations are true or not, Mulcair's Wikipedia page garnered new edits Tuesday following publication of the Maclean's Magazine article, national media followed the story, and #Mulcair trended in Canada. The Canadian federal election is on Oct. 19.

Follow Hilary Beaumont on Twitter: @hilarybeaumont