09.04.2026

Ambitions and institutional limits

Equipped with a long political pedigree and what counts nowadays as a radical social democratic platform, Avi Lewis has just been elected NDP leader. Siamak Mehr reports

Canada’s New Democratic Party, the main social democratic party, has elected a new leader: Avi Lewis. He is among the most leftwing figures the party has seen in decades. The question now is whether this latest wave of left revivalism will follow the trajectory seen in Europe and the United States - or take a different path.

By ‘revivalism’, we are referring to the re-emergence of leftwing leaderships within historically moderate social democratic parties: figures such as Jeremy Corbyn in Britain and Bernie Sanders in the United States. These movements generated significant enthusiasm, particularly among younger activists, but ultimately failed to transform their parties or secure lasting political power. Whether Avi Lewis represents a repetition of this pattern - or a break from it - remains an open question.

He won the leadership with 56% of the vote in the March 29 election in Winnipeg. He ran a Bernie Sanders- or Zohran Mamdani-style left-populist campaign. Lewis is no stranger to the NDP or to Canadian politics more broadly: his father, Stephen Lewis, is a former Ontario NDP leader, and his grandfather, David Lewis, led the federal party.

Before entering formal politics, Lewis worked as a journalist and television host, interviewing a wide range of political figures. He was also a key figure behind the ‘Leap manifesto’, an initiative that sought to unite environmental, indigenous, labour and faith leaders - alongside artists and writers - around a transformative response to the climate crisis. He is also married to the author, Naomi Klein.

Low level

Lewis now emerges as the most leftwing figure in the NDP since Jack Layton, at a time when the party is experiencing its lowest level of support in decades. In the 2025 federal election, the NDP won just seven seats - its worst result in 40 years. One MP has since defected to the governing Liberal Party, reducing the caucus to six. The party is also burdened with approximately C$13 million in debt.

Key elements of Lewis’s platform include expanding public ownership to counter corporate influence and introducing a “public option” for essential services. This includes proposals for publicly owned grocery stores to address the cost-of-living crisis, as well as public telecommunications services in a country with some of the highest telecom prices in the G7.

He also advocates a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, including an end to oil and gas expansion, while promising that no workers will be left behind. His plan includes the creation of one million well-paid, unionised jobs and the construction of a modernised, 21st century electrical grid. However, the concrete mechanisms for implementing these proposals remain unclear and are not fully detailed on the NDP’s website.

This raises a broader issue: the tension between the scale of Lewis’s ambitions and the institutional limits of a social democratic party operating within a capitalist framework. Proposals such as large-scale public ownership and major industrial transformation would likely encounter resistance not only from political opponents, but also from entrenched economic interests. Without a clear strategy for confronting that resistance, such policies risk remaining at the level of aspiration.

His platform also calls for large-scale, non-market public housing development, alongside strict rent controls to protect tenants. This comes at a time when major Canadian cities have experienced some of the sharpest increases in housing and rental costs over the past decade - so severe that the federal government has declared a national housing crisis.

In addition, Lewis aims to strengthen the labour movement by promoting card-check unionisation at the national level. He also seeks to rebuild the NDP’s support in rural, remote and working-class communities through grassroots organising, community assemblies and local skills development.

To fund these proposals, Lewis has suggested a one-time “windfall profit tax”, estimated to raise $50 billion, alongside an ongoing 5% surtax on corporations earning over $100 million in profits. While such measures would generate significant revenue, they also raise questions about capital flight, investment slowdown and the broader reaction of Canadian and international capital.

Foreign policy

Lewis’s stance on Palestine has already generated controversy. He is Jewish and a supporter - though only recently a member - of Independent Jewish Voices, which has described Israel’s recent actions in Palestine as genocide. This position has provoked concern among pro-Israel lobby groups in Canada. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs stated the day after his victory: “Today, the New Democratic Party elected Avi Lewis as its leader. We are left with a deep sense of sadness.”

This reaction highlights the extent to which foreign policy - particularly on Israel-Palestine - remains a flashpoint within Canadian politics, capable of mobilising both external pressure and internal divisions within parties.

On immigration, an issue that has increasingly come to dominate Canadian politics - even in a country that prides itself on being welcoming to newcomers - Lewis has called for reversing some of the cuts introduced by Mark Carney’s Liberal government. In an interview with a prominent online magazine, he argued that “the current immigration system is broken”.

He proposes replacing the existing system with a single-tier model based on permanent residency and status on arrival, aimed at providing greater rights and stability. This would include prioritising family reunification, welcoming refugees fleeing war, and ending the division between different classes of workers by reforming the temporary foreign worker system.

At the same time, immigration remains a politically sensitive issue, particularly in Quebec and parts of western Canada, where economic pressures and cultural debates intersect. Lewis will need to balance a principled position with the electoral realities of these regions.

Lewis assumes leadership of a party without holding a seat in parliament, and his chances of securing one before the next election - expected in 2029 - appear slim. Whether he can lead the NDP to electoral success in the coming years, or merely stabilise a party currently polling at around 8% nationally, remains uncertain.

However, recent developments elsewhere suggest that unexpected outcomes are possible. The rise of figures such as Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York, combined with the energy of younger activists involved in Lewis’s campaign, indicate that a break from recent patterns cannot be ruled out.

At the same time, the experience of Corbynism offers a cautionary parallel. Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the British Labour Party mobilised hundreds of thousands of supporters and shifted the party’s programme significantly to the left. Yet it faced sustained opposition from within the parliamentary party, hostility from much of the media, and ultimately electoral defeat. These pressures - internal resistance, media campaigns and institutional constraints - are not unique to Britain and could well reappear in the Canadian context.

Within organised labour, there are signs of growing support. The Canadian Labour Congress and its largest affiliate, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, now appear to be backing Lewis at the leadership level. During the campaign itself, however, most formal endorsements went to his rival, Rob Ashton, who ultimately finished fourth.

Reactions to Lewis’s leadership - both within and outside the NDP - suggest that he is already being taken seriously by political opponents. The rightwing National Post ran a column by Geoff Russ titled “Don’t underestimate the appeal of Avi Lewis’s third-worldish politics”. Russ warned: “This is a time of revived leftwing radicalism in the English-speaking world. Do not dismiss Lewis … If he plays his cards right, he will not be a punchline for long.” Similarly, Toronto-based socialist and anti-poverty activist John Clarke compared Lewis’s victory to that of Corbyn, noting that Lewis is already becoming a target both of rightwing attacks and of internal opposition from the party’s right wing.

This comparison appears plausible. Lewis has already faced criticism from within the party. Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck has described his positions as “ideological and unrealistic” and has refused to meet him unless he ‘moderates’ his proposals. In Alberta, NDP leader Naheed Nenshi has taken a somewhat softer stance, but has still clashed with Lewis over his opposition to oil and gas expansion, calling it “damaging for Alberta’s economy”. Nenshi, notably, is the former mayor of Calgary, the province’s largest city.

Conclusion

The trajectory of the NDP under Lewis remains uncertain. It is possible that the party could experience a significant resurgence over the next few years, potentially even returning to electoral competitiveness. Equally, Lewis could face the same fate as figures such as Jeremy Corbyn, whose rise was ultimately contained by both internal and external opposition.

Much will depend on developments in Quebec, where the NDP must regain support if it hopes to become a serious electoral force. Lewis will need to demonstrate competence in French, articulate a convincing position on immigration, and navigate contentious issues such as Bill 21, which prohibits public employees from displaying religious symbols while on duty.

For the fragmented and currently weak revolutionary left in Canada, the strategic dilemma remains unresolved. There is no independent political vehicle capable of contesting for power in the near term, yet uncritical support for social democracy risks repeating familiar cycles of disappointment. The most viable approach may be a critical engagement: participating where possible, supporting progressive measures, but maintaining political independence and clarity.

Optimism is understandable, but it should not give way to illusions. The coming years will provide a clearer test of whether this moment represents a genuine shift - or another repetition of familiar patterns.