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The NDP and its leader Thomas Mulcair are holding their first parliamentary wrap-up session 500 kilometres away from Ottawa, in Quebec City.
The goal will be to present the Official Opposition's record in defending the regional interests of the provincial capital, which used to be a key power base for the Conservative Party in Quebec.
The seven NDP MPs in the area were mostly unknown entities when they won their seats in 2011 as part of the Jack Layton's Orange Wave. Two years later, they are striving to establish their credentials as worthy MPs for the region, and to showcase Mr. Mulcair as the ideal replacement to Mr. Layton, who passed away shortly after the election.
NDP officials explained that Mr. Mulcair will still offer a full wrap-up of the current parliamentary sitting in Ottawa, when the House rises for its summer recess. The New Democrats had also planned to hold their regional wrap-up session in Quebec City later this month, but they decided to hold it Tuesday afternoon, while the House is still sitting in Ottawa, given Mr. Mulcair's presence in town to give a speech at a union convention.
"[Mr. Mulcair] is one of our calling cards in the region," said NDP MP Denis Blanchette, who is the party's main spokesman in Quebec City. "When we learned that he would be here, we said, why not [hold the press conference now]?"
In Quebec City, Mr. Mulcair is expected to speak about the last few months in Ottawa that have been marked by scandals and controversies, which gave him an opportunity to showcase his skills at grilling the government on its ethical lapses.
However, the main goal on Tuesday will be to allow the NDP's regional caucus – which swept all seven seats in the greater Quebec City area – to highlight their work on a series of local files.
Voters in Quebec City form a fickle electorate, and they gambled in 2011 that they would be better off by booting out the governing Conservative MPs and replace them with opposition MPs. The city will be another key battleground in the next election, as the NDP will fight to hold on to its seats, while the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party will try to win back seats that they held in the past.
In that context, the NDP wants to promote the work that its MPs have accomplished since 2011. The party is boasting that it helped to preserve a Coast Guard rescue centre in Quebec City, which the government had wanted to relocate to Halifax.
The biggest issue these days is related to clouds of "toxic dust" that are being spewed in the Port of Quebec, which falls under federal jurisdiction. According to the NDP, the dust clouds are caused by a cargo-handling company, and have engulfed whole neighbourhoods with particles of nickel and iron, among other things.
Mr. Mulcair was also in Quebec City last week to launch a petition to force the government to take action on the matter, once again showcasing his intent on holding on to the party's seats in the region. The hope is that in 2015, Quebec City voters will choose to re-elect their New Democrat MPs and help them form the next government.
"We feel that the government is worn out, and we need to highlight that," Mr. Blanchette said. "One of our main traits is that we work hard on our individual files ... and it's each one of us to show what we can do."
Daniel Leblanc is a parliamentary reporter in Ottawa.