With the leadership race behind it, the federal NDP is ready to get back to the business of being the official Opposition.
Thomas Mulcair won the leadership on the fourth ballot Saturday with 57 per cent of the vote. Brian Topp finished second with 42.8 per cent.
Nathan Cullen, Peggy Nash, Paul Dewar, Martin Singh and Niki Ashton were eliminated on earlier ballots.
Jean Crowder, Nanaimo-Cowichan NDP MP, supported Topp as leader, but said the members made a decision and it’s time to turn the party’s attention to the Conservative government.
“It was a rollercoaster for us all day Saturday, but you wipe away the tears and you move on,” she said. “I’ve worked closely with Tom over a number of years and he cares deeply about what happens to Canada.”
The leadership convention was necessary following the death of party leader Jack Layton in August. Crowder said while Mulcair will have a different leadership style than Layton, he will be a capable leader.
“Jack recruited Tom to our caucus a number of years ago,” she said. “He’s been in the political field for many years and has a good grasp of what it takes to win. Our job is to hold the government to account and I’m confident under Tom’s leadership, we can do that.”
Party members wanting to vote online ran into delays as computer problems slowed down the process.
“We were hacked, we had to reboot the system a number of times,” said Crowder. “There was a mass influx of people who were not legitimate voters trying to log on. Apparently they’ve identified a couple of the IP address where this was coming from and its being investigated.
Amber Morrison, co-president of the Nanaimo-Cowichan NDP Riding association, joined close to 40 people at a leadership event at the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo on Townsite Road, voting online and watching the action on television.
“Everyone had difficulty getting through, but we all got to vote in the end,” she said. “It was just a matter of patience.”
Morrison said she is excited with the result, and is eager to see what Mulcair is going to do for the NDP.
She said the party has been craving a leader since the death of Layton.
“It feels like we’ve been waiting for a year,” she said. “Now we can begin moving forward.”
Crowder said the first priority is taking on the government’s budget, scheduled for Thursday (March 29).