Outgoing NDP MP Paul Dewar named party's senior transition adviser

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has appointed defeated Ottawa MPPaul Dewar to help reorganize the party in the wake of last Monday'sdisappointing election results.

Dewar's mandate, announced Friday during a caucus conferencecall, will include guiding the NDP in staffing and reorganizationboth at the party level and inside the parliamentary wing.

NDP insiders say the caucus responded positively to the decisiondue to Dewar's positive rapport in and outside the party.

Mulcair, who quietly celebrated his birthday this weekend withfamily, was also expected to break his silence this week afterremaining out of the public eye since election night, when his partywas pared down to just 44 MPs.

"You will see Mr. Mulcair in the coming days but his prioritynow is preparing caucus to hold the governmentaccountable," saidMulcair'sdirector of communications, Shawn Dearn.

Since the election, Dewar and outgoing party members such asHalifax's Megan Leslie and Toronto's Peggy Nash, have been cleaningout their offices while about 300 staff members are out of work.

Longtime New Democrat Peter Stoffer, who lost his east coastriding of Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook, says he feels for the"poor people" who worked for him that are now unemployed.

"I know there's not much we could have done," Stoffer said."We ran probably the best campaign we ever did. We thought we hadthe numbers, it just didn't turn out to be right. It is what itis."

Stoffer will be in his unique Ottawa office this week, whichfeatures a pool table and dozens of hats and buttons he has
collected over the years, to mark the end of 18 years on ParliamentHill.

"I'm going to sell that, obviously," Stoffer said. "All themoney goes to charity. Everything that I have the hats, the pins,the buttons, the pool table, all of that stuff, I always said willbe donated to charity when I leave politics."

As the parting process continues for several team members,Mulcair has been reaching out to his caucus and trying to reassureNDP faithful.

In an email distributed to donors on Friday, Mulcair acknowledgedthe election results "weren't exactly what we had hoped for."

The party's results remain painful for supporters who thoughtforming government could be possible for the first time underMulcair's stewardship.

"They're [the NDP]back to exactly where they historicallyalways were," said Carleton University political science professorJonathan Malloy. "Obviously they lost more than half their seats,they're no longer in that contending position where they were forthe last four years. That has to hurt."

Nathan Cullen, re-elected in the B.C. riding of Skeena-BulkleyValley, says it is good to reflect on what happened but he says heisn't "interested in moping around."

"The measure of the party and the person is how you react todifficulty, not what you do with wild success," Cullen said. "Youtake your moment ... then you get on with it and get back to work."

Stoffer also said the party continues to support Mulcair.

"Mulcair put his heart and soul into this party and worked very,very hard," he said. "I'm sure he is very disappointed at whathappened but if I was talking to him right now, I would say 'haveyour head high, you did your best."'

Stoffer said he doesn't think Monday's outcome was a personalreflection on the NDP leader, but rather voters wanted to go in adifferent direction by supporting Trudeau.

"Because we love this country so much, we have to respect andhonour that decision and we go forward," he said.

Mulcair has promised he is in it "for the long haul" but hispolitical fate is tethered to a party leadership review that will beheld during the NDP convention in Edmonton this April.