Peggy Nash is the kind of leadership Canada needs. She's going to every community and instead of sticking to a stale "theme" she's really listening to the concerns of the people and offering real solutions. She's strong, she's firm, and we have seen her ability to go toe-to-toe with Harper's Conservatives. Peggy is the leader the NDP needs to win the 2015 election and take Canada back.

This woman is awesome. She is fully qualified to lead the NDP and is often portrayed as the "consensus candidate" or "everybody's second choice". In a preferential ballot system, this may indeed propel her to victory and I for one would be happy to vote for a party led by Peggy Nash.

That being said, there is no such thing as a candidate with no downside. There is the age issue -- if it is relevant for commentary on the age of inevitable Liberal leader Bob Rae in the next election, which will be 68, we should also consider that Ms. Nash will be 66. If a leader is found now, I hope that that leader will be around for at least two federal elections and not one. There is also the fight against the pension age extension. If both Ms. Nash and Mr. Rae, at 66 and 68 are the leaders of this fight, they take at least a little of the meaning out of it. They seem quite able and not in needing of earlier retirement themselves. It is an unhappy detail but don't think it won't be exploited.

There is also the question of whether there is a saturation effect with a number of relatively low-profile women in the party leadership back these twenty years. With the exception of Jack Layton, the NDP leadership seems to blur together a montage of Audrey McLaughlin, Alexa McDonagh and now Nycole Turmel. Recognition is important and if Canadian voters right this moment were given pictures of these politicians, how many could correctly name each one? In Ms. Turmel's case, would Quebecers see Ms. Nash as the photo negative of her, in other words the trade union-identified candidate who speaks English perfectly but accented and functional French instead of Ms. Turmel's good French and accented English?

Then there is the regional question, always relevant in both Quebec and Western Canada. Two leaders in a row having a political background and representing a riding in downtown Toronto. To find a sitting Quebec M.P. is never and one from the West goes all the way back to Tommy Douglas.

Still, good on Ms. Nash for calling Mr. Cullen on his proposal -- but bear in mind that if enough Greens and Liberals do heed the call, they can simply use this open election as a Trojan horse to destroy the NDP. If, as rumoured, they can sideline Kevin Falcon and hobble the BC Liberals with Christy Clark, why wouldn't they want to make the NDP split apart? I sincerely hope Mr. Cullen takes note and rethinks but until then, good luck to six of the candidates. I am for Quebec's Mulcair first, the West's Niki Ashton second and for Ms. Nash third.

There is no reason to enter any sort of allaince with the Liberals. They are dead; they existed as party of the wealthy and powerful with a facade of social liberalism. That group has moved on to the Conservatives.

No political party has done anything about this and most canadians citizens are scared to have a NDP government in Ottawa, nothing will change because they are not getting there! But you can dream!

Good for her - I'd like to see her working with Woody Allen again.

I think Peggy Nash is delusional if she thinks a non-united opposition will defeat Mr Harper. Why is it so hard for someone as obviously intelligent as her to realize that unless everyone to the right of the Mr Harper puts their selfish interests aside, this country will be unrecognizable by the time he completes his second majority term?

I for one would be more than willing to put aside my selfish interest (in having the opportunity to vote for the party of my choice) for the good of this country. I have voted NDP all my life, but I am not so stubborn as to believe purity of choice is going to save this country ... and neither am I so naive as to believe that the NDP have the remotest chance of forming a majority next election.

Is she saying she can't (or won't) find common ground with the likes of Bob Rae, Ujjal Dosanjh, Justin Trudeau?

For the record, Peggy Nash is 61 years old (1951.06.28).

When the NDP pulled the plug on Paul Martin's life support it meant the landmark Kelowna Accord died on Stephen Harper's desk. Whether this was because NDP polls told them they would gain seats (they didn't) or for reasons of ideological purity is moot. Just ask the people of Attawapiskat.

Thanks, Christine A., I stand corrected. She will only be either 64 or 65 during her first election.

As she is 61 now, she will be about 65 when the next election occurs (eligible to collect Old Age Security, barring the changes that are being discussed). Despite her stance, despite her quality, despite everything, Canada cannot have another senior citizen as our Head of Government. That is not what advanced, industrialized countries are doing. Look at the UK, USA, France, Australia, and even countries like Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Never mind the fact that Canada has a younger person as Prime Minister as well. This is not about age; as though being that old makes her too feeble or tired to do the job. It is about generations. Things need to change! The baby boomers are going into retirement and it is time for the younger generations to have the levers of power. The NDP needs to vote in a younger person as their leader. Whether you agree with the arguments I've made so far, consider that Stephen Harper will be younger than 55 when the next election is held (if he remains the CPC leader, which I think is very unlikely). A 65 leader of the Opposition will not beat him, nor any of the younger people likely to succeed him as PM if he steps down.