Paul Dewar Blasts Baird Over Diplomat Strike, UN Relations

OTTAWA - The NDP accused Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Thursday of botching relations with his own diplomats and isolating Canada on the international stage.

Foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar levelled the widespread criticism at Baird during a news conference in Ottawa.

Dewar said an unprecedented strike by foreign service officers reflects badly on Baird.

Don’t spend $25-million on rebranding Museum of Civilization, feds should revive Portrait Gallery, says MP Dewar

NDP MP Paul Dewar says the government has “forgotten” about the former U.S Embassy sitting across the street from Parliament at 100 Wellington St., and says instead of spending $25-million on rebranding the Museum of Civilization it makes “infinite more sense” for the government to spend the funds on turning the abandoned space into the Portrait Gallery of Canada, as per the original plans.

“Instead of renaming and rebranding the Museum of Civilization, which is going to cost $25-million, they could easily be re-investing that money into the former American Embassy, which already had money invested in it, to become the portrait gallery,” said Mr. Dewar in an interview with The Hill Times. “They messed up on this file, unfortunately what they’re doing is they’re just leaving that building sitting there and it’s costing taxpayers money just to have the upkeep.”

Dewar wants to ‘turn people onto politics’

Since Paul Dewar, 49, announced his bid for the leadership of the NDP, the Ottawa Centre MP says he’s “criss-crossed the country more times than I can count.” By his numbers, he’s been to 120 different communities, been on more than 65 planes and attends an average of three to four events a day.

Mr. Dewar, who describes himself as a “grassroots” MP, said that if chosen to lead the New Democrats his priorities would be building a 21st century economy in Canada, strengthening Canada’s social safety net, including Old Age Security and the health transfers to the provinces, and correcting Canada’s historical mistreatment of First Nations.

The NDP’s challenge in the next election will be to win 70 more seats from their current total of 101 seats in the House and form government, said Mr. Dewar. He intends to do this by reaching out to the West, the Prairies, rural Canada and Quebec, and expanding the party’s infrastructure outside of Ottawa.

The NDP made some important gains with the last election, both in terms of Quebec support and in terms of the party’s standing in the House. Pundits have criticized a lack of division between the leadership candidates. What sets you apart and makes you the right person to lead the federal NDP?