http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/06/05/guy-caron-ndp-leadership-elector...
NDP leadership candidate Guy Caron says implementing electoral reform will be his top condition to support a minority government led by either the Liberals or the Tories — or his first act as prime minister if the New Democrats form government in 2019.Okay, well now I know his top priority is not the well-being of Canadians because even if you support PR there are far more pressing issues facing Canadians like the clauses in trade deals forcing us to allow companies to sue us if we don't choose their products or allow them to pollute the country or the privatization of government services or the lack of pharmacare. Nope, the hill he wants to die on first is PR. If he wins the leadership he will lose the election.
I'll have to support either Charlie or Niki. I think Niki.
That's dramatic. If you were genuinely considering supporting Guy Caron and genuinely believed in electoral reform, even if ER wasn't your "top" issue, you would not condemn him for making it a priority. Unlike the trade agreements you claim are more important, ER is an issue that requires only Canada's government to make changes to - unlike international trade agreements. This is pragmatic pledge that is completely achievable and can't be convincingly blamed on third parties if it isn't realized. Conversely, if he pledged to revisit trade deals - or worse, to insist the Tories or Liberals renegotiate trade deals - as his top priority, he would face endless criticism as there are a million factors outside his control that could prevent that from happening, or cause it to be renegotiated in a way detrimental to Canadians. And, again, if you believed in ER you would know that ER is like Canada's version of "but think of the SCOTUS." Electoral reform, if realized, will have a lasting impact on federal policy for decades to come, not just the next 18-48 months after the election. In a very real sense electoral reform is the most consequential single thing any party can do. It's a democratic pay raise instead of a one time lump sum payment, sure, the lump sum will help more in the very short term but long term a pay raise is better. And it's not like Caron can't also act on other issues or give them weight concurrently with realizing ER.
With respect to your dig on his election chances, I think this is a strong play because the mere fact of the pledge highlights Trudeau's single biggest lie from the last election. If Caron is leader in the next election, every time he mentions PR he's indirectly (very important) reminding everyone that Trudeau is a liar and can't be trusted. I generally believe you when you say that you're more aligned with the NDP than the liberals even though you supported Trudeau over Mulcair last election - I get it, I did too. But your post reads like astroturfing as a fake ex-Caron supporter, at the minimum.