OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – Those close to him say, “If he’s your friend, he’s the best friend you’ve ever had. If he’s your enemy, you don’t sleep well.”

With the House of Commons back in session next week, Maclean’s magazine has an insider’s look at the leader of the NDP.

Tom Mulcair rose through the cut-throat world of Quebec politics to emerge as the leader of the federal Opposition this spring and could be the toughest foe Stephen Harper has ever faced. But one of his greatest strengths could also be one of his biggest liabilities.

“How does he translate that very Quebec-rooted, Quebec-bred instinct about politics, about what matters, about how people hear things?” wonders Maclean’s Ottawa bureau chief John Geddes. “How does he translate that into a kind of political packaging that works in the rest of the country?”

Geddes feels Mulcair’s next challenge will be expanding his appeal.

“One of the big tests for him in the next year or two — and we’ve got a majority government, so he’s got a while to work on it — is to take what is really a bedrock kind of support in Quebec and see if he can broaden it.”

He’s also impressed with how quickly Mulcair has emerged from the shadow of the late Jack Layton; Mulcair’s combative style a big contrast from the more genial Layton.

He’s also proved more resilient in the face of Tory attack ads than past Liberal leaders like Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.