MONTREAL — The soul-searching is underway among members of the NDP after the stunning collapse of their vote in the federal election.
Party insiders say they saw the electoral freight train that was Justin Trudeau's campaign coming down the tracks as much as a month ago, but many in the senior leadership refused to believe it was real.
Even still, the insiders says the scope of the loss is just starting to sink in as some of the party's brightest public lights have been extinguished and they face the prospect of a long, painful rebuilding process.
Several high-profile MPs, including deputy leader Megan Leslie, Peter Stoffer, Jack Harris, Paul Dewar and Peggy Nash all went down to defeat.
The question on the minds of many people outside the party is whether leader Tom Mulcair will stick around to lead a vastly smaller caucus of 44 MPs, especially when some in the party have questioned whether he dragged the NDP too far to the centre in a failed effort to make it electable.
How much of the blame for blowing a first place lead and taking the party to a third place finish will rest on Mulcair's shoulders remains to be seen.
