Liberal MPs criticize Hall Findlay’s lengthy attack on Murray’s cooperation proposal

PARLIAMENT HILL—Liberal MPs on Tuesday criticized Liberal leadership candidate Martha Hall Findlay for a lengthy attack against MP and leadership contender Joyce Murray’s central campaign plank calling for electoral cooperation among the opposition parties to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives in the next federal election.

Ms. Hall Findlay posted a 700-word criticism on her campaign website, and emailed it to reporters covering the leadership, calling Ms. Murray’s plan an undemocratic scheme that would guarantee the election of NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair as prime minister, should it topple Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and his Conservative government.

'We can never get electoral reform unless we defeat Stephen Harper': Joyce Murray

In the federal Liberal leadership race, most eyes have so far been on Justin “Heir to Pierre's Throne” Trudeau to wear the Grits' crown into the next election.

It's a crown tarnished from a series of stunning electoral defeats that marked a nadir in the party's history.

But with Marc “Spaceman” Garneau dropping out of the race last week (backing Justin), Trudeau's most prominent rival has emerged as Joyce “Tree-planter” Murray -- a former B.C. environment minister and reforestation company owner who has garnered support from some surprising corners, including Leadnow.ca and David Suzuki.

It ain’t over till it’s over, Trudeau hasn’t won Liberal leadership yet, say Murray and Hall Findlay

PARLIAMENT HILL—Two Liberal leadership candidates whose profiles have grown significantly over the past week are challenging the media and punditry wisdom that Montreal MP Justin Trudeau has sealed a victory with four weeks remaining in the contest, and citing the Trudeau campaign’s last-minute appeal for an extension of the deadline for voter registration as evidence.

Campaign officials for Liberal MP and leadership candidate Joyce Murray (Vancouver-Quadra, B.C.) and former Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay have provided The Hill Times with numbers that suggest the Trudeau campaign managed to convert only a fraction of the 150,000 Liberal Party supporters his legion of volunteers had signed up prior to the original March 14 deadline into registered voters eligible to cast ballots in the election to take place between April 7 and April 14.

The candidate of co-operation finishing strong again, this time for Liberals

For the second consecutive year, a politician from the west coast, far from the central Canadian political establishment, has proposed fundamental change in the way politics is practiced in this country.

For their efforts, Nathan Cullen and Joyce Murray have faced charges from their own party elite of disloyalty, of abandoning a great institution, of capitulating to the enemy.

But for the second consecutive year, a federal leadership candidate pitching a platform of electoral co-operation among progressives is overperforming in the race.

The credibility candidate: Joyce Murray in conversation

I am beginning to think that this country should be governed by a mother — though some might argue it already is.

“The role of government is to protect the common good. Stephen Harper is not doing that. He is acting as cheerleader for a particular industry. He is letting a single industry interest hurt the common interest.”

The words belong to Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray. She is one of the few politicians I have recently met who understands that the house is on fire.

Quiet, competent Murray brings message of sustainability

Joyce Murray may lack the national profile enjoyed by other Liberal MPs hoping to lead their party, but her policy platform is a surefire attention grabber.

The MP for Vancouver Quadra would legalize and tax pot, slap a price on carbon, kill the Northern Gateway project, ban oil tankers on B.C.'s north coast, ensure 40 per cent of federal appointees are women, ditch Canada's first-past-the-post voting system, and address vote splitting through a voluntary system of partisan co-operation at the riding level to allow joint candidates to compete against vulnerable Conservatives.

Trudeau attracting buzz, but Murray, Garneau, LeBlanc, Cauchon and others still exploring options to run for Grit leadership

PARLIAMENT HILL—Despite the wave of publicity over Grit MP Justin Trudeau’s intention to run for the Liberal party leadership with a nationwide campaign team already in place, Liberal MPs say other prospective candidates, including MP Marc Garneau and Martin Cauchon, one of Jean Chrétien’s most influential past Cabinet ministers from Quebec, are either likely to press ahead with their own plans to become candidates or are leaning in that direction.

Also in the wake of news that Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) is scheduling an announcement of his candidacy on Oct. 2, at an event in his Montreal riding, B.C. MP Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, B.C.) told The Hill Times on Thursday that she is establishing an “exploratory team” to flesh out her own plans to enter the race and is no longer in the “considering” stage.