NDP members are betting that a sharp turn leftward can revive their party’s fortunes.
What happened: Former journalist and filmmaker Avi Lewis won the federal NDP’s leadership race handily, capturing 56% of the vote on the first ballot. Alberta MP Heather McPherson came in second with 29%.
Politics is something of a family business for Lewis: his father is former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis and his grandfather, David Lewis, succeeded Tommy Douglas as head of the federal party. He is married to Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine.
Why it matters: The election of Lewis, a self-described socialist, is a gamble that after years of bleeding support, the NDP can chart a path back to relevance by embracing a more radical left-wing agenda.
Lewis campaigned on an avowedly socialist platform, which included a wealth tax on fortunes above $10 million, taxing capital gains at the same rate as employment income, higher corporate taxes, more state ownership of industry, and a ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Yes, but: Some provincial NDP leaders are less keen on the direction Lewis is taking the party. Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said the direction of the party “is not in the interests of Alberta,” and Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck published an open letter rebuking Lewis’s positions on energy.
What’s next: With the NDP down to just six members of Parliament and still polling in the single digits, Lewis has his work cut out for him to turn the page on a pretty bleak era for the party.—TS
