Thomas Mulcair pulls a Reese Witherspoon-worthy move on Parliament Hill

Andy Radia
·Politics Reporter

Thomas Mulcair is being dubbed the 'Reese Witherspoon' of Canadian politics after pulling the "do you know who I am" card at a police officer on Thursday morning.

According to CTV News, the NDP leader failed to stop his vehicle at a RCMP screening facility entering Parliament Hill

"He waved and continued to drive," CTV's Mercedes Stephenson said.

"He then reportedly blew through — according to our sources — four to five stop signs on Parliament Hill. In pursuit was a RCMP vehicle with its lights on. Mr. Mulcair did not pull off until he got to his parking space behind centre block."

[ Related: Senate scandal helping NDP leader Thomas Mulcair gets his groove back ]

Stephenson continued:

"At that point, when he was confronted by the RCMP officer, he asked 'don't you know who I am' and then looked at the RCMP officer's name tag and suggested 'you're going to be in a lot of trouble.'"

Shortly after the incident, the NDP released this statement:

Mr. Mulcair went through the gate as usual this morning. He waved at the officer on duty as he always does, and proceeded through the open gate.

The officer didn’t recognize him, leading to a misunderstanding.
Once notified of the misunderstanding, he had a very respectful discussion with an officer. He then immediately went down to clear up the misunderstanding with the commanding officer.

Mr. Mulcair apologized for the misunderstanding.

No warnings or citations of any kind were issued to Mr. Mulcair.

The matter was settled immediately and cordially.

In the past, some have labelled Mulcair 'Angry Tom' for his alleged hot temper and sharp-tongued put downs.

[ More Politics: Stephen Harper does his best Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney impressions in leaked video ]

To his credit, Mulcair had been successful in suppressing that image through much his short time as leader.

But could this have been a glimpse of 'Angry Tom'?

Some on Twitter certainly thought so. As you might imagine, the incident caused a stir on the Twittersphere:

The issue also became a theme — for the Conservatives — during Question Period on Thursday with one Tory MP brandishing a 'stop Mulcair' sign. Interestingly, Mulcair didn't show up for QP.

Conservative MP Julian Fantino, who was a police chief in Ontario, condemned Mulcair's actions.

"As a former police chief I'm personally insulted by the leader of the NDP's arrogance and disrespect for those who serve on the frontlines. His actions today are an insult to man and woman who put on the uniform to defend our basic freedoms and rule of law," Fantino said.

"The leader of the NDP should stop denigrating those who serve, stop opposing our efforts to get tough on crime and stop acting like he is above the law."

Heritage Minister James Moore even had some zingers for the absentee opposition leader.

"I hate when the real NDP leader gets caught in traffic but I guess that's the situation today," he said at one point.

He later added this quip to huge applause from the Conservative caucus:

"I have been wondering for a while why does the NDP oppose our street racing bill — I guess we now have the answer."

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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