Raoul Gebert was the Chief of Staff for NDP leader Thomas Mulcair between May 2012 and January 2015. During this period (and presently) the federal NDP have lacked a clear position on the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). While they have stated they are generally opposed to 'investment protection' provisions in 'free trade' deals, they are (still) reserving judgement on CETA as a whole.