MONTREAL — If now-backbench Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault was looking for sympathy, he won’t find it from four of the five candidates vying to be the next NDP leader.

Edmonton MP Heather McPherson had a blunt assessment when asked in a post-debate scrum about Guilbeault’s decision to quit Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet in protest of his energy pact with Alberta.

“Mr. Guilbeault quit cabinet but he did not quit the (Liberal) party and he did not quit the caucus. If he really believed this was a fundamental problem for him, why didn’t he walk away?” said McPherson.

“This just means he’s not interested in doing the work,” she continued.

Guilbeault announced hours earlier that he would be stepping down as minister of Canadian identity and culture, but would continue to serve as the

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