As an American, I have no horse in this race other than I will be looking for jobs in Canada when I finish my PhD. Going by Mulcair and Trudeau's positions, I would prefer it if you guys got Trudeau for your next PM but that doesn't look like it will happen. It's either Harper or Mulcair and your guys' ridiculous multiparty first-past-the-post electoral system will destroy you. So, my suggestion to you guys is to elect Mulcair as PM with enough liberals to keep up the pressure for the NDP to enact electoral reform and both parties pushing each other left. If the NDP gets an outright majority, electoral reform might become a lower priority to them.
Honestly, since Layton died, I don't even know why you guys have an NDP. The NDP has seemed to have abandoned a lot of the core principles that made it an attractive alternative to the liberals. Momentum is in their favor though.
The infighting the Canadian left is having is strangling you guys. In no functional democracy would Harper be prime minister today or even have a chance at remaining so this October.
Yes FPTP is absurd and I agree with your suggestion. Canada badly needs PR, which is one of the main reasons I support the NDP this election as they are the most up front with their support for switching to PR.
I'm not sure how long you've been in Canada so forgive me if you know all this. The NDP as it currently exists is largely a continuation of the path Layton set it on. For most of its history the NDP was a pro-union, working class party that did well in rural areas that were ignored by Canada's elites. Jack Layton was a Toronto City Councillor and when he took over the party he transformed it into a party for city dwellers that focused on issues effecting those that live in the dense core of our cities. The movement toward the mainstream centre started under Layton.
Mulcair was by far the most centrist of all members seeking leadership, but he was elected because he was Layton's top guy in Quebec, and the NDP membership wanted to continue in Layton's path toward the centre. The NDP were now the official opposition and they sensed they had a real opportunity to defeat Harper.
For all the movement toward the centre the NDP remains a very left wing party and I'm personally a bit baffled by newspaper articles that suggest that the Liberal party is running "to the left" of the NDP in this election. For example, this election the NDP is promising a $15 a day universal national childcare plan. This sort of big new government program promise is classic NDP and in my opinion it's the most left wing policy promise out there.
You're wondering why we have an NDP, why we have multiple left wing parties, but you're making the mistake of lumping the Liberals in with the Canadian left. They are a left wing party, but there's more to it than that. The Liberal party is a big tent party with significant support on the right of centre side of the spectrum. The historical reason for the NDP existing is because the Liberal Party has often not been left wing enough for many people. At the moment the Liberal Party appears very left wing, with their promises right now being some of the most left wing promises I've ever seen from them, but Canadians will remember when the Liberals governed in the 90s, had many austerity budgets, and were a much more centrist party.
I like having both the Liberal Party and NDP around, as having both parties offers a greater amount of different viewpoints for the electorate, but returning to your main point, it does only makes sense to have multiple parties in a Proportional Representation system. Ideally we'd have a Parliament with strong representation from both these parties and the Greens, and they'd work together.
