Rob Ashton joins NDP leadership race

Rob Ashton, president of the ILWU Canada, has entered the NDP leadership race as its first declared labour candidate. Launching his campaign in Toronto, Ashton vowed to defend Canadian jobs, protect domestic industries, and “tax the rich, not the working class.” A blunt, longtime longshoreman, he says the NDP must return to its labour roots to win back workers drifting to the Conservatives after the party’s poor showing in the last election.