VANCOUVER -- The not-so-subtle makeover of Tom Mulcair continues on the campaign trail, as the NDP leader tries to shed his image from Angry Tom to Cuddly Tom.

NDP strategists are pushing to 'humanize' their leader in an attempt to make an emotional connection with swing voters.

We're seeing Mulcair's life story promoted on bookshelves, online videos, and in his stump speeches.

But now, Mulcair's family is being trotted out on the campaign trail in supporting roles at events across the country.

Last week, Mulcair posed with his sons, Greg and Matt, at a Toronto Blue Jays game.

And on Tuesday, Mulcair's sister, Deb, played a starring role at a rally on Vancouver Island.

Deb Mulcair at NDP rally

Deb Mulcair, a Business Administration professor at the University of Victoria, shared some of her childhood memories of her supportive big brother. He had a newspaper route. He's a good cook. The crowd of partisan NDP'ers went wild.

Tom Mulcair and Deb Mulcair

And Tom Mulcair injects his life story in almost every speech, selling himself as a leader with middle-class roots. (Although Mulcair's critics say the NDP leader grew up quite comfortably -- his family has a deep history in elected Quebec politics).

"I grew up the second-oldest of 10 kids, we had to work for everything we had," Mulcair begins.

"I worked my way through law school as a roofer."

Mulcair is well known in his home province of Quebec, but remains a mystery with many people in the rest of Canada. And many voters are motivated by personality.

So NDP strategists are trying to market Mulcair's brand before their opponents get the chance.