Canadians generally like to govern from the centre. Most electoral victories have been precipitated by the winning leader showing balance and moderation. Lewis’ victory was not based on moderation, but on exploding the status quo.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on April 6, 2026.
OTTAWA—One thing is certain. The new leader of the federal New Democratic Party has the overwhelming support of his party.
Avi Lewis swept to victory on the first ballot last weekend, and, coincidentally, was also the second choice of most voters who backed other candidates.
With more than 71,000 ballots cast, Lewis secured an easy victory announced at the convention in Winnipeg on March 29. That was the easy part.
Translating that into electoral victory is another story.
Provincial New Democratic leaders kept their distance from Lewis.
British Columbia Premier David Eby did not attend the convention. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew gave a speech to the convention on the winnability factor.
That was seen as a slap at Lewis because he has already lost two elections while his closest leadership rival, MP Heather McPherson, is one of only a handful non-Conservative Albertans sitting in the House of Commons. There are three Liberals in Alberta, while the Conservatives hold 33 of the 37 seats.
Kinew did join other supporters on stage with Lewis after his victory was announced, and embraced the new leader.
Following the convention, Kinew said: “I just love Avi … and we don’t have to agree on everything to get big things done.”
Other NDP icons were not as effervescent.
Former Alberta premier Rachel Notley introduced McPherson to the convention with a passionate call for “realistic plans.” She focused on McPherson’s capacity to build bridges, in contrast with others.
Notley did not name Lewis, but the inference was there.
In the moments after Lewis’ victory, current Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi issued a statement making it very clear that his provincial party does not include Lewis.
“It is clear that the direction of the federal party, under this leader, someone who openly cheered for the defeat of the Alberta NDP government, is not in the interest of Alberta,” Nenshi said.
Before Lewis won the leadership, former national NDP leader Tom Mulcair was equally critical, suggesting a Lewis landslide would create a “huge problem,” particularly his plan to shut down fossil fuel development.
Mulcair also criticized Lewis for his decision not to run in a byelection and get into the House as soon as possible.
Mulcair told CTV News that he has spoken to dozens of NDP supporters who are worried that Lewis’ radical positions on issues would likely cost them even more seats.
With only six members in the House, the NDP currently do not have party status and would lose their only Quebec member if Alexandre Boulerice quits the party to run in the provincial election for Quebec Solidaire, as he’s hinted.
The “winnability” factor did not appear to influence the voters at the convention.
Rob Ashton, the labour-endorsed candidate at the convention, ran a poor fourth, behind Indigenous social worker Tanille Johnston.
That was a shock because most observers thought labour would deliver more than the 5.91 per cent of the votes Ashton secured on the first ballot.
That number should be concerning for the party because past support in ridings across the country has depended on the involvement of labour workers and funding.
If only five per cent are active at the NDP’s national organizational level, it does not augur well for labour influence in a general election.
Canadians generally like to govern from the centre. Most electoral victories have been precipitated by the winning leader showing balance and moderation.
Lewis’ victory was not based on moderation, but on exploding the status quo. His call for an end to all fossil fuel extraction, coupled with the establishment of government-run groceries stores, is not going to sit well with the majority.
He will definitely bleed support from the Green Party, which is already on life support. But McPherson would have cut into Liberal support by attracting voters who see Carney as a more conservative-Liberal.
With Lewis, there is little chance that left-wing Liberals will move to his party. And that is bad news for the Conservatives.
The way Tories win in Ontario is by Liberals bleeding votes to the left. The split secures victory for the right. Probably the most disappointed leader following the Lewis victory was federal Conservative Pierre Poilievre.
On a sombre but serendipitous note, Lewis’ father, former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, lived to see his son’s victory. The 88-year-old elder Lewis passed away less than 48 hours after the win was announced.
Avi Lewis is a third-generation NDP leader, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, federal leader David Lewis.
Lewis told the convention his grandfather predicted an NDP prime minister in the next generation, and his father the same. Lewis vowed that, with his victory, his own son will not have to wait.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.