Rival candidates have criticized Mulcair for suggesting the party needs to change fundamentally to achieve greater success, but Mulcair has countered the perception that he is trying to move the party to the centre by saying it needs to reach out beyond its traditional base and bring the centre to the party.
And Broadbent contradicts Broadbent (on modernization, good and bad)
Broadbent believes the party has already gone through modernization under the leadership of the late Jack Layton and noted that Topp was a key part of his team."I supported Jack for leader because I saw him as a modernizer," said Broadbent, who was NDP leader from 1975 to 1989. "He had a great deal of emphasis on modern techniques and fundraising and organization for the party to build membership ... There is a kind of either straw man being set up by Tom to attack or it's just simply misleading and one of the reasons I supported Brian Topp is I saw him doing this. I saw him being instrumental as a modernizer."