NDP leadership candidate Peggy Nash speaks in exclusive one-on-one

Yahoo! Canada News interviewed NDP MP NDP Finance critic Peggy Nash speaks with the media in Ottawa, Tuesday October 4, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian … about her bid to replace the late Jack Layton as leader of the NDP.

First elected to parliament in 2006, the Toronto-area native has a long history in the Canadian labour movement, serving as senior negotiator with the Canadian Autoworkers Union. After breaking ground for human rights in labour contracts, she became a founding member of Equal Voice, dedicated to increasing the number of women in politics. She also served as a monitor for the 2004 and 2007 elections in the Ukraine.

Here are some excerpts from her Friday interview with Yahoo! Canada:

Yahoo!: It's now a crowded slate of candidates running for the leadership of the NDP. What do you bring to the table that perhaps others don't? In other words, if I was an NDP member, why would I vote for you?

Nash: What Peggy Nash brings to the leadership campaign is a history of grass roots activism which I believe is the lifeblood of our party.

I've been active broadly in the women's movement and working to bring in childcare, end violence against women, create more affordable housing. I've been active in the environmental movement and certainly ... in the labour movement, trying to improve the working conditions and wages of working Canadians.

But what I also bring is very practical concrete experience as a negotiator.  I have certainly sat across bargaining tables from some of the largest companies in the country, so I understand some of the needs of the private sector and know what areas government can be helpful in promoting job creation.

My experience as a negotiator brings an ability to listen to diverse view points and to try and find common ground.  In a country as complex and as diverse as Canada, that ability to bring people together, to find common ground, to bring unity, is important—not only to our party but to the country as a whole.

Yahoo!: What does the endorsement of former NDP leader Alexa McDonough mean to your campaign?

Nash: It's very inspiring for our campaign because Alexa is beloved and widely respected in our party. She has been such a trailblazer [for the New Democrats across the country].

Yahoo!: Where do you stand on potential cooperation, coalition, or even merger with the Liberals?

Nash: I think our job as a party is to inspire Canadians to support us.  We have shown in the last election that ... [while] people have voted one way for a number of years, they are open to change.

And while certainly I'm in favour of working with any other party to get things done for Canadians, I'm not in favour of a merger. I think the Liberals and New Democrats are two very different parties.

Yahoo!: Your colleague, [NDP MP] Pat Martin recently stated that your party's prolonged leadership race is making it "very difficult" to mount a vigorous opposition.  Do you agree with that?

Nash: I don't agree with that and I think the proof is in the pudding.

[For example] it was New Democrat MPs who were relentless in campaigning for rebuilding of the Champlain Bridge in Montreal and the government has agreed to that.

I think what Canadians are getting to see is that while we have a number of strong candidates who have presented themselves for leadership, we have a whole group of strong MPs who are stepping forward as critics.

Yahoo!: What issues would you like to see your party focus on in 2012?

Nash: Unfortunately, I think the economy and jobs are going to continue to be front and centre. I think there's a lot of concern about economic security right now. We have about two million Canadians that are looking for work and a lot of those are young people.

At the same time, we have very serious environmental concerns and we don't want to leave that environmental debt to our young people. We want the government to take action now, to steer the course towards greater sustainability in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Generally ... there's great concern that the government is focused on privatization and cutting back in the public sector. We have several challenges with this government living up to its responsibility to serve Canadians.