Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and former prime minister Jean Chretien attend a rally in Hamilton, Ont., Sunday, Sept, 13, 2015.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
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Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau are attacking Thomas Mulcair over his position on the Clarity Act – arguing that the NDP leader would endanger national unity.
Mr. Chrétien said Mr. Mulcair's position was "irresponsible" and that having been at the centre of federal politics during two divisive referendums and two confusing questions that Quebeckers were asked to answer, the Clarity Act was passed in to law "so that people will know what they're doing."
Mr. Mulcair has said the NDP would replace the Clarity Act – and its key section that a clear majority must vote in favour of separation before any negotiations about separation between Ottawa and the province can get underway – with a new law that would put the threshold at 50 per cent plus one, so long as the question was clear and there are no irregularities with the vote.
Mr. Trudeau said that the NDP leader "wants to make separation easier." He added that the idea of a single vote above 50 per cent deciding a referendum was backtracking on previous NDP support for the Clarity Act when it was passed in the 1990s.
Speaking together at a Sunday afternoon rally in Hamilton, Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Trudeau focused most of their attacks on Mr. Mulcair and attacked him largely on the issue of national unity and separatism.
The rally at a downtown hotel drew hundreds of supporters and more than a dozen Liberal candidates from the region.
Mr. Mulcair, speaking in Vancouver at a planned healthcare announcement pre-empted some of the criticism coming his way from Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Trudeau.
He said that Mr. Chrétien had almost lost the country in 1995 and brought the country to the brink of breaking up – and that Quebeckers showed in 2011, with the historic support of the NDP in that province, that they were ready to work with progressive parties like the NDP on issues like healthcare.
"I'll let Justin Trudeau continue with his golden oldies tour and bring out Jean Chrétien today and start talking about the quarrels of the past," said Mr. Mulcair.
"We are talking about solving the problems for the future."
With a report from Canadian Press.