Article content

Activist and filmmaker Avi Lewis was elected as the leader of the federal New Democratic Party on Sunday.

Article content

The 58-year-old grandson of former party leader David Lewis and the son of former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis was the perceived front-runner in the leadership contest and won in the first round of voting as the NDP wrapped up its national convention in Winnipeg.

Article content

Article content

He beat Alberta MP Heather McPherson, union leader Rob Ashton, social worker Tanille Johnston and farmer Tony McQuail for the party’s top job.

Lewis began his speech by calling for party unit as he brought out his leadership rivals and the NDP caucus on stage. He also said he is not in a rush to gain a seat in the House of Commons and plans to focus first on strengthening the party at the grassroots levels.

“Workers will always be at the heart of the NDP, the one and only original workers’ party,” he said.

Article content

Article content

Blames ‘extreme wealth’ for cost-of-living crisis

He spoke out against the “tiny group of billionaires that control every part of our economy enabled by their friends among the Liberals and the Conservatives.”

He said the other parties will blame U.S. President Donald Trump, immigrants and Indigenous land rights, but they won’t address what he said was the main cause of the high cost of living.

“Only the NDP will tell the truth: The cost-of-living emergency is driven by extreme wealth and power in the hands of the 1%,” Lewis said.

About 100,000 New Democrats were in the voting pool for the leadership race with 70,934 ballots cast. Lewis finished first with about 56% of the vote followed by McPherson (29%), Johnston (7%), Ashton (6%) and McQuail (1%).

Article content

The five candidates spent the last six months campaigning for the job to replace Jagmeet Singh, who announced his resignation in the spring of 2025 after the NDP suffered heavy losses in the last federal election.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Party down to 6 seats after MP’s defection

The NDP went from 24 seats to just seven in the last election with one of the losses being Singh’s B.C. seat in Burnaby Central. A recent Abacus poll showed the party garnering voter support at about 9%, up by 3% compared to the 2025 federal election but still well behind the Liberals (44%) and the Conservatives (37%).

Early this month, the party lost another seat after Nunavut MP Lori Idlout crossed the floor to join the Liberals. Her defection, along with three others from the Conservative party, means the Liberals are inching closer to a majority on Parliament Hill.

The Liberals currently hold 170 seats and need two more seats to have a majority government.

That could happen as early as next month with three federal byelections set for April 13 in the ridings of Scarborough Southwest, University—Rosedale and the Quebec riding of Terrebonne.

— With files from The Canadian Press.

Article content