Improving the lives of Canadians didn’t reward the NDP, but instead benefitted the Liberals. New Democrats have a lot of thinking ahead of them.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on September 8, 2025.
The New Democratic Party officially launched the call for its new leader last week.
The result will be announced in Winnipeg at the party’s national convention March 29, 2026.
Thus far, there are a few names floating around as potential candidates. One is current Edmonton MP Heather McPherson, and another is recent federal candidate Avi Lewis. Party activist Yves Engler has made it known that he plans to run.
Lewis has a solid political name in New Democratic circles as the son of former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, and the grandson of federal leader David Lewis.
He is also married to Naomi Klein, an author and influencer in her own right. Klein and Lewis co-authored the “Leap Manifesto,” in 2015, proposing major changes to fight climate change, income inequality, racism and colonialism.
The NDP declined to endorse the manifesto at a national convention, punting the issue to local associations.
Lewis subsequently ran in two federal elections in different British Columbia seats. He came third in both races.
The situation facing the New Democrats is quite different today than it was a decade ago. At that point, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair had a shot at forming the government until he ended up going too far to the right and costing the party the 2015 election.
In the last Parliament, leader Jagmeet Singh tied his fortunes to building better social policy for the county, including the establishment of national dental care and a move toward more universal pharmacare.
His push for social equity actually ended up benefitting the Liberals, with their record achievements convincing some NDP voters to switch to the Liberals to prevent the election of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Liberals benefitted from the NDP’s work on social policy, and it cost the New Democrats dearly—electorally and financially.
The party’s election results earlier this year were deemed “an unmitigated disaster” by long-serving former New Democrat MP Charlie Angus.
The party lost official status—being reduced to seven seats—and the number of ridings that garnered 10 per cent of the vote has been reported to be fewer than 50 out of 343.
That means that at least 293 ridings will not be eligible for any refund of some of their spending based on a formula set out by the Canada Elections Act.
Not only will the party be looking for new ways to raise money, it will not benefit from the riding rebate that keeps many local organizations alive when their party is not in government.
Money will be an issue in the leadership campaign, and not only because the party is in financial trouble.
The NDP historically receives support from unions across the country. But during the last election campaign, that relationship seemed to be frayed, with the Conservatives managing to secure some support from LiUNA, representing construction labourers, Canada’s Building Trades, and the Ontario wing of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Construction Council.
Those unions are not as close to the New Democrats as the public sector unions, but there will be an internal debate on whether the party should move away from its dependence on union support.
While the New Democrats carry on an internal debate, with candidates required to enlist at least 500 supporters from five regions of the country in order to run, other parties will also be following the race closely.
The Conservatives need the New Democrats to get stronger in order to cut into the Liberal vote. And Liberals need to be careful that if they move too far to the right under Prime Minister Mark Carney, their left flank could be exposed to poaching from the NDP.
The prime minister is currently making the right moves on big projects, and getting lots of support from the business community.
But, at the end of the day, he needs support from the “elbows up” crowd: ordinary Canadians who love their country and believe that we are all in this together.
Those Canadians would be more likely to shift over to the New Democrats if they feel the Liberals are getting too cozy with big business. Their move to the left could put the Conservatives in government by splitting the centre-left vote in tight riding fights.
For the Tories to win, they need the New Democrats to be stronger, so expect much positive spin about the NDP from the Conservatives.
Liberals need to keep the NDP weak. The sad story for Singh is that he aligned with the government on public policy that ended up enhancing Canada’s social policy underpinnings.
Improving the lives of Canadians didn’t reward him. Instead, it benefitted the Liberals.
New Democrats have a lot of thinking ahead of them.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
