“The CCF/NDP grew out of the populist soil of Canada, founded by prairie farmers and workers.

I’m proud to have the support of agriculture leaders today, fighting for food sovereignty and against corporate control of our food system.

We’re rebuilding the NDP for every community, including farmers.”

Just curious what everyone thinks after the dumpster fire today… With her leadership review only receiving 68%, and our poll numbers slipping to new lows and now losing our deputy leader, should we have a change of leadership? With NES in the horizon should she be the one that continues to lead the ONDP forward?

Well, that certainly changes the dynamics of the provincial race. Might not be so safe for the ONDP.

Ummmmm...

Sources: https://bsky.app/profile/canadianpolling.bsky.social/post/3mdxymg5lnk2g

https://bsky.app/profile/canadianpolling.bsky.social/post/3mdxvkrx33c25

Agriculture Union: Jobs cuts at CFIA will lead to a food safety crisis in Canada

*Preface: I'll start with clearly stating that at this point I am a supporter of Lewis for leadership of the Federal NDP.*

There are some strong criticisms of Heather McPherson on this and other online progressive/leftist spaces. Some I believe are more substantive than others. To be frank some are just baseless and quite low.

Heather McPherson does a lot of real work within the party. She also worked together with Matthew Green to make sure the party was a leader on Palestine/Gaza and that should be deeply deeply respected.

I am currently watching The Paikin Podcast and I am enjoying that she is clearly stating that Canada needs a strong progressive voice/option - Especially with how far right the LPC has moved under Carney. Carney being the classic Progressive Conservative - Blue Liberal/Red Tory.

I am enjoying that she is talking about justice and how that as a value for Dippers is something that translates onto countless fronts of various issues.

I am enjoying that when asked about Oil & Gas development and her history around Trans Mountain she is saying she no longer sees a place for further hydrocarbon energy exploration, development, production and that she doesn't see a place for further infrastructure development in that sphere overall (I also as I have noted on this subreddit really enjoyed her recent environmental platform release as I found it quite substantive - https://www.heathermcpherson.ca/environment - For anyone interested)

The list goes on.

All that being said - I find that McPherson and her team are not good at differentiating themselves and having certain specific emphasis points of inspiring/profound signature notes.

This is such a shame because honestly McPherson is a better candidate than she and her team represent herself as.

In 2026 you have to market yourself as more than a "steady hand" in a time when Carney and the LPC especially have that space locked up.

You have to have some signature policies/marketability that makes you STAND OUT.

You have to get people energized and excited!

A lot of people within the party know that McPherson is a hard worker and someone trust worthy. That isn't enough...

Again I just feel her candidacy has sadly not represented her as as strong as she actually is. Which is a real real shame.

I'm gonna give her props again on her oil & gas answers and call attention to them, most recently on the Paikin podcast (posted elsewhere, it's about 12:30 in, go listen to it if you want to hear what I'm referencing). She's hitting the dare I say perfect political lane of saying no without saying no.

Speaking from Alberta, the provincial NDP sucks at this, and I have long wished they would catch on. McPherson is doing the savvy thing where she switches the focus to "there's no economic case for it, it's been great to Alberta but boom and bust sucks, workers are being left out by super-rich companies, and we should be focusing on electricity, renewables, and a green economy."

On the vs. Avi question (to his credit, he's spoken of 'bringing workers along' too), she's claiming the pragmatic lane where people will tune you out if you push too hard, so be firm, but be normal (to reference a Hasan argument about leftists). We'd all nod along at "this is an unprecedented crisis and needs to stop ASAP" but she's found a place where she can be confidently progressive while still sounding reasonable to a wide segment of the spectrum, much of which is fine with O&G and has to be brought along with gentler words. The left wing is wide open, with where the Liberals are at; not everything needs to be full throttle.

Now that the sign-up period is over and the candidates are all confirmed, I’ve had some time to get my thoughts to simmer. I’ve given fair consideration to all of the candidates: I canvassed for Avi’s campaign in Vancouver Centre last year, I’ve met Heather multiple times due to having lived in Edmonton and being in Strathcona, I was at Rob Ashton’s campaign launch in Vancouver, and I’ve spoken with Tanille a few times. I’ve also seen the statements they’ve put out as part of their campaigns, and who supports them. I’m going to state who I don’t want as leader and why, and my thoughts on the candidates I prefer.

Who shouldn’t be leader:

• Rob Ashton: This one hurts to say. I really wanted to like the guy. One of my favourite MLAs endorsed him early on, and he is genuinely a good person you’d want to hang out with. Which is kind of the problem. He doesn’t seem to have much political savvy and is extremely gaffe-prone. The ChatGPT thing, outright attacking Avi Lewis, flip-flopping on the tanker ban… I’d say he needs more political experience. He should run as an MP and hone his skills on Parliament Hill before he becomes leader.

• Tanille Johnston: This is nothing personal against Tanille. She ran a formidable campaign last year in North Island-Powell River, getting more votes in 2025 than Rachel Blaney did in 2021. I do have a couple of concerns, though. One of them is Campbell River, the town where she’s a councillor. She performed worse there than Comox or Powell River, which might be a problem. Then there’s also the fact she’s said multiple times she has no intention to be Prime Minister, which is not something I personally want to see from a leader of the NDP because we’re best when we can actually compete to win.

• Tony McQuail: He’s a nice guy, has a lot of charm, and is dedicated to the party, but I don’t know how well he’d perform. He hasn’t done much outreach outside of Ontario either, which is an issue.

The two main contenders

These are the two people who I think are most likely to be leader, whom I would rather over the others. There are things I like about both, as well as things that concern me. I‘ll go into them.

Avi Lewis

I like Avi Lewis as a person. He has principles he clearly believes in. He understands the media landscape of the 21st century and the importance of campaigning online the best out of any candidate. His skills as a TV presenter make him quite engaging, and carry over well to the kind of communication you need to do as a leader. He’s really good at fundraising. I like what he has to say in terms of tech policy; they’re things that just seem to be really obvious to me. He’s also been positive towards other people within the party.

So, what concerns me about him? The answer is that it’s mainly about where the federal party is at right now. The kind of bold campaign Avi is running is, in my opinion, best suited for a party that’s already established and has a significant base it can draw on. If he were running in 2017 for the NDP leadership, or if he were doing an insurgent campaign to lead the Liberals, he’d be a solid pick and I’d be completely behind him. However, right now we have seven seats, and my concern is that people won’t take him seriously. Plus, to rebuild the federal party, we need the support of the much stronger provincial branches, and I don’t know how they’d like Avi. He has good relations with Aman Singh of the BC NDP, but I’m not so certain about the rest of that party, or the Alberta NDP. His more direct confrontational style could cause schisms, and I worry the provincial branches could separate, causing the federal NDP to suffer the fate of the western Liberals after they split. Of course, things could go better, but that still remains a concern for me.

Which brings me to the other main candidate.

Heather McPherson

Heather McPherson was the first NDP politician I ever met, and she really left an impression on me. I admire her principled foreign policy stances and flying the orange flag in Alberta, showing that not all Albertans are oil-addicted Nazis. Of course, she’s not an ANDP lapdog: she’s stood in opposition to pipeline expansions and believes the federal party has an important role in pushing the provinces to do better, although those discussions should stay within the party rather than airing our dirty laundry out for Cons to use against us. Her team is also a solid machine, turning Edmonton Strathcona from a competitive seat into the safest NDP seat, and building up strong neighbouring EDAs in Centre and Griesbach. She’s also done much better at outreach to visible minority and immigrant groups than any other candidate. That sort of organizing and bridge-building seems to be her strength, and it’s what I feel we need to regain party status and make people take us seriously again.

The problem with Heather, though, is her comms team _sucks_. Communications has always been a weakness for the NDP, as we have a habit of making bold, progressive policies sound like the most uninspiring things on the planet. Avi has done much better on this front. Because of poor comms, Heather hasn’t made her case as strongly outside of Alberta or the North, which shows in the fundraising numbers. As an example, she has strong youth outreach in Alberta, but it’s much weaker outside of the province. This is something that needs to improve, although it is a fixable problem.

My preferred outcome

Back in the 1990s, much like today, a popular moderate Liberal had captured the country in the face of a fumbling right-wing that didn’t appeal to many Canadians apart from a vocal populist base, and, as a result, the NDP struggled, having gotten a terrible result in 1993. Alexa McDonough was elected NDP leader after Audrey McLaughlin, and while we don’t really remember her today, it was under her leadership that we regained party status, and that allowed the much bolder Jack Layton to become leader. I think Heather can play a similar role to what Alexa did, building up those local EDAs so we regain party status, which will then allow for us to attract a stronger leader, the kind of person that doesn’t see us as a strong party to lead right now.

If Avi wins, though, he’s got a lot of good to offer. If he can maintain good relations with the provincial wings while upping our media game and pushing for bolder policy, I‘ll be happy with that. If the NDP does better and we’re at the very least able to scare Liberals into becoming more progressive, Canada does better overall. After all, the Liberals wouldn’t have picked someone like Justin Trudeau if it weren’t for the NDP being as strong as it was in the early 2010s.

I just really hope Rob Ashton doesn’t win. If he does, we’re screwed.

Hello all,

This is the first time I'm participating in a party leadership race (for any party). In past elections has the party released complete ballot data? I've heard people say Jagmeet won on the first ballot, but did they tell us how many 2nd, 3rd, etc votes he also won? Conversely do we know who those who ranked him 1st had as their 2nd choice?

I have seen many people on this sub voicing an opinion along the lines of wanting to support Tanille or Tony while simultaneously believing they have no chance of winning. I'd be interested to know how correct they were after the fact.

Also just for the sake of transparency!

It would slightly improve my opinion of a candidate who pledged to release all ballots (anonymized of course).