OTTAWA — NDP MP Niki Ashton is refusing to categorically state whether she wants Tom Mulcair to stay on as party leader.
Ashton was asked at a news conference today if she plans to endorse Mulcair when he faces a leadership review in Edmonton in April.
Ashton replied that she preferred to talk about being proud to belong to a party that encourages the exchange of ideas.
Her comments come the same day that three former NDP MPs from Quebec published a letter in Montreal Le Devoir to say they were troubled the party has "forgotten its raison d'etre and the values it has always incarnated."
Jamie Nicholls, Elaine Michaud and Helene LeBlanc say they did not feel represented in the NDP electoral platform they had to defend last year.
The NDP's constitution calls for a secret ballot at next month's convention; if more than 50 per cent of the ballots call for new leadership, a vote must be held within a year.
The New Democrats were reduced to just 44 seats and third-party status in the Commons after beginning the campaign with 95 seats.
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