Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

The New Democratic official opposition flexed its muscle this week with an anti-budget filibuster (read: not all that much muscle) designed to showcase a strong, single-voiced critique of the Harper majority budget.

According to newly-minted leader of the opposition, 

We’ve been very clear since the beginning we’re going to use every opportunity that the parliamentary rule book presents us as Official Opposition to do our jobs correctly of showing everything that’s wrong with this budget…

…These are things that have to be pointed out.  Their economic management has been abysmal and we’re going to take all the time that we need and use all of the parliamentary tools at our disposal to make sure that we do our jobs as Canadians have elected us to do.

Sounds great, right? A strong voice, a strong comb-over; a well-articulated and forcefully delivered criticism of a budget that begs criticism.

But not everyone is happy.

Not that Bob Rae is happy very often, but his hackles seem raised particularly high on this matter. In a speech, he blasted the NDP filibuster as a “failure,” bemoaning,

If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind in Canada, let me just say that the era of love and good feeling is clearly over inside the NDP. It’s a new regime.

We’ve now moved to the world where anger apparently is better than love, arrogance is now better than humility and petulance is much stronger than respect.

Somebody missed their nap.

But Mistah Rae has a good point. The NDP is hogging the budget debate.

From a communications point-of-view, the NDP is brilliant to do so. The juxtaposition is between Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair. Jim Flaherty and Peter Julian. (Peggy Nash is kicking herself right now.) One side hates grandmothers, the other visits their grammy every Sunday.

But from a good-of-the-federation perspective? This sucks.

It’s worrying that a party would so fervently denounce cloture, only to unilaterally consume all of the given time on a debate.

But it didn’t need to be like this.

Right now, the NDP has two major fears - one, that Mulcair will be eclipsed by Rae; two, that the NDP will just generally be overlooked by the media. It’s a well-founded insecurity that dragged the party down in the polls during the leadership race, to the betterment of the Liberal’s fortunes.

So here’s a novel proposal - the opposition should work together.

The NDP can’t afford to have its thunder stolen on jobs, economic growth or retirement security. Because of their almost single-minded focus on these matters, they’ve essentially let-slip several other portfolios. Namely, the F-35 boondoggle that has been hounding Julian ‘Humanoid Android’ Fantino or the destruction of many facets of environmental regulation. 

Why not give Rae those files?

Forget joint nomination meetings; if the opposition really wanted to take down Harper, it would divvy up the wide breadth of policy and outflank the Harper spinmachine, already beginning to overheat.

Peter Julian would stand up: “JIM FLAHERTY HATES GRANDMOTHERS.”

Scott Simms rises: “AND JAMES MOORE HATES LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE.”

Elizabeth May: “PETER KENT HATES BABY SEALS.”

Maria Mourani: “PETER MACKAY DETESE DES FORCES CANADIENNES QUEBECOIS." 

It becomes a more efficient media narrative than having Peter Julian reading tweets for five hours on a Tuesday.

Cooperation lets the NDP keep its working-class-hero narrative while still working to destroy the government’s pro-jobs-and-growth line on the budget.

So break out the bongo drums and prepare for Kumbaya (or, in the NDP’s case, Solidarity Forever.)