Thomas Mulcair emerges from burrow, sees shadow; six more disappointing NDP elections expected - The Beaverton

Thomas Mulcair emerges from burrow, sees shadow; six more disappointing NDP elections expected

OTTAWA — The New Democratic Party was dealt a heavy blow yesterday when , former Leader of the Official Opposition, crawled out of his burrow on Parliament Hill, saw his shadow, and condemned the party to six more elections of underwhelming and frustrating results.

Hundreds gathered on the Parliamentary lawn Monday morning eager to see Mulcair’s return to public life. As has long been customary for the NDP after a federal election, the party leader retreated to a tunnel network under the House of Commons for the winter. Legend holds that if a leader emerges from their winter den and doesn’t see their shadow, majority status isn’t far behind.

At approximately 11:15 am, Mulcair peered out to a crowd of nervous and excited onlookers from one of several tunnel openings that dot the Parliamentary lawn. Though shy in the face of such a large group, Phil Dumont, one of several ceremonial ‘Mulcair wranglers’ on hand for the event, reached in, scooped the 61-year-old up, and carried him over to a dais by the centennial flame.

“Well, we ain’t seen the little fella since, oh, mid-October,” said Dumont, commenting on Mulcair’s conspicuous absence since the federal election. “But, if you ask me, he was busy, gathering nuts and berries and putting on fat to make it through the winter months. It’s a lot colder down there in those tunnels than it is in Stornoway.”

A hush came over the audience as NDP partisans and laypeople alike awaited the result. Mulcair, glancing around skittishly and chattering, waited for several minutes before turning, noting his shadow on the ground before him, and darting back to the safety of his warren. Though many NDP members were happy to see their leader amply bulked up for a few more months of hibernation, the sense of discontent was palpable.

, NDP MP for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, was present for the event. “I can’t say it’s a happy result, but tradition is tradition. I remember coming as a kid to see them yank Ed Broadbent out after the 1984 election. Watching a bunch of grown men pull a politician out of a hole in the ground and force him to look for his own shadow… it was the first time I really knew that politics was for me.”