Cullen named NDP's house leader

Northwest B.C. MP Nathan Cullen is the New Democratic Party's new opposition House Leader.

The MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley who finished third in the NDP's recent leadership race, was named to the position Thursday by newly-minted leader Thomas Mulcair.

A House Leader is in charge of the party's day-to-day business in the House of Commons and usually conducts negotiations with other parties on the conduct of bills and debates.

University of Northern British Columbia political science professor Jason Morris said the appointment effectively makes Cullen the senior deputy to the leader but also has its downside.

"Nathan's impressive for trying to take issues from northern B.C. to parliament and it's not quite the task of the House Leader to be doing this," Morris said. "He'll still have to advocate for those issues as an ordinary member of parliament."

However, Morris said it's more important than being a critic in some respects.

"Often a party leader will appoint critic positions to just about everybody they can and sometimes that is to make them feel more special than they are," Morris said, who added a House Leader is a "front bench" position.

Asked about how much say he will have over policy from the position, Cullen said it carries "loads of influence."

"Just because you're handling so many of the different files, you're not on one particular criticship, but you're sitting in the executive dealing with the leader everyday and dealing with the government in a totally different way," Cullen said.

Now-retired Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill was both a House Leader and a party whip for the Conservatives for many years.