Exclusive Yahoo! News one-on-one with NDP leadership frontrunner Brian Topp

Yahoo! Canada News interviewed federal NDP leadership frontrunner and party president Brian Topp Tuesday about his candidacy, the NDP and the possibility of an NDP-Liberal merger.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Yahoo!: If I was an NDP member what would your pitch be to me? Why should I vote for you?

Topp: For the first time ever the NDP is a step away from being the government of Canada. I think our credibility as a governing alternative is important.

One of the things I bring which may be unique among the candidates is that I have worked at the heart of a successful NDP government (as deputy chief of staff to Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow between 1993 and 1999.)

I'm talking about some themes that are very important to New Democrats . . . pensions, child poverty, jobs, increasing difficulty of middle-class families making ends meet.

I'm trying to find the thread that goes to those pearls in talking about our fundamental commitment to building a more equal society in the face of many years of this government, we argue, that has chosen to make Canada a more unequal society. I think that's an important theme for New Democrats and one that it is time for us to talk about.

Yahoo!: The two knocks against you are that you don't have experience as an elected official and you're not in caucus so won't get the "face-time" or the television time that others candidates may receive. How do you overcome those two disadvantages?

Topp: The proof is in the pudding. I've been campaigning for a week now and I think I've been doing reasonably well in terms of getting public profile.

I guess there's no question that it's not helpful to me that I'm not a Member of Parliament. And the members who will be making this decision will have to weigh that.

If I have any strengths that I'm bringing to the leadership I think it's that we're talking here not just about your work as a constituency MP, which of course is very important, but also your ability to lead a political party. I know something about politics and I think I have demonstrated some of those skills in recent days.

Yahoo!: Can the NDP be an effective Opposition during the leadership race? Will the leadership race be a distraction?

Topp: I'm not concerned the leadership race is going to be a distraction. I think it's going to be an enormous benefit to our party as people see what a great team we have.

Yahoo!: What do the Roy Romanow and Ed Broadbent endorsements mean to your campaign?

Topp: Ed, is of course, the formal federal leader. He was instrumental in introducing Jack Layton to our party. He is obviously trusted in our party and so I think he will be very very helpful to me in introducing me to members.

Premier Romanow, many believe, is one of the most successful premiers the New Democrats have ever elected to any government. In particular, he has a remarkably credible record of fiscal issues

So what he speaks to is to the fact that we have a very rich and deep tradition of competent government. You have to remember we're not just aiming here at having a discussion about our leadership, we're using this leadership campaign to profile the NDP as a governing alternative to the Conservatives.

Yahoo!: You have already said no to a merger between your party and the Liberals. But, will you keep the door open to a merger in the future?

Topp: We don't need to become Liberals to win. People of Canada, in a considerable measure, have turned the page on the Liberal Party of Canada and are looking to New Democrats as an alternative to the current government. Our job is to put forward a possible alternative to the current government and we don't need to become Liberals to do that.

That said, I was not only involved in the 2008 (coalition) negotiations when Jack Layton asked me to be one of his negotiators, but I also worked with Roy Romanow to put together a coalition government in Saskatchewan.

In 1999, when our party lost its majority in Saskatchewan, we reached out to the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan and put together a majority government through a coalition — and governed the province for years.

What I learned from both of those experience is we shouldn't close any doors to working with any other parties if doing so will allow us to advance our agenda.

(Reuters Photo)