Avi Lewis launches NDP leadership bid as Heather McPherson prepares campaign

Avi Lewis NDP poses for a photograph on Bowen Island, B.C., on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

OTTAWA -- Filmmaker and journalist Avi Lewis officially announced his candidacy for the federal NDP leadership on Friday, while two other candidates registered to run for the leadership with Elections Canada.

Lewis — the first to publicly declare — made his announcement in a video he shared on social media.

Both Alberta NDP MP Heather McPherson and Rob Ashton, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, are now listed as leadership candidates on the Elections Canada website. Neither candidate has made a public declaration yet.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Lewis said Canada is at an “epic, historic” turning point due to economic upheaval driven by the U.S. tariff threat. He said he sees a way for the NDP to present alternatives and regain its footing in a time of “massive change.”

“The two old parties are marching in lockstep, as they have so many times before. And so, yes, we are at an electoral low point, obviously,” Lewis said. “Right now, Canadians are way better off if there is a party that has a totally different diagnosis and a totally different bunch of solutions to the crisis that we’re in.”

The party launched a leadership contest earlier this year to replace Jagmeet Singh, who resigned after losing his own Vancouver-area seat in the April election. B.C. NDP MP Don Davies is serving as interim leader.

In his video, Lewis links high cellphone and food costs to a small number of companies owning most telecommunication firms and grocery chains.

“We need the government to step in and actually solve those problems. So when it comes to food, we’re calling for a public option for food and groceries. When it comes telecommunications, we’re going for a public option for phone data (and) internet,” he said. 

Lewis also blames the spread of wildfires on successive Liberal and Conservative governments failing to limit emissions from fossil fuels.

“There’s been a succession of gob-smacking retreats on every fundamental plank of the government’s climate approach, as if this crisis is not choking the air every summer and actually affecting the lives of Canadians and costing tens of billions of dollars every single year,” he said.

“It’s shocking the way (Prime Minister Mark Carney) has thrown climate under the bus.”

McPherson has represented the riding of Edmonton Strathcona since 2019. The NDP has held that riding since 2008.

McPherson’s spokesperson declined an interview request.

As the party’s foreign affairs critic, McPherson has pressed the government over its response to the war in Gaza and its plans for recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Ashton recently launched a website looking to gauge support in advance of a potential run. The website says he is considering running for leader as someone with rank-and-file union experience and the party should be led by workers.

Since the NDP was reduced to just seven seats in the spring federal election, McPherson and Lewis have both been travelling the country and speaking with New Democrats about rebuilding the party.

Lewis said he’s heard party members tell him that too much power has been concentrated in the leader’s office, alienating organizers at the riding level.

“The culture of grassroots organizing was always the NDP’s special sauce and I think people are eager to get back to that,” he said.

Karl Belanger, former NDP strategist and president of Traxxion Strategies said the Liberal government is creating space for the NDP to gain support with indications of an austerity budget coming on Nov. 4. 

“That vacuum needs to be occupied and the key though is to make sure that you’re striking the right balance. It’s not about radical. It’s about being bold so that you make an impression with voters,” Belanger said. 

“It is about making sure that the concerns of people are reflected in the political debate.”

He said the most important thing candidates need to focus on is being visible and heard, something that is a challenge with the NDP reduced to just seven seats in the House. 

NDP strategist Melanie Richer, a principle at Earnscliffe Strategies, said she sees ground for the party to rebound with a new leader and space emerging between the initial shock of U.S. tariffs and annexation threats that dominated the April election.

“Folks in my universe, where they typically vote orange, were terrified of Donald Trump and they were terrified of Pierre Poilievre. So they were lending their vote to the red team with the caveat that they would be coming back to the NDP,” Richer said. 

Lewis ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the NDP in the 2021 and 2025 elections in two Vancouver-area ridings.

When asked how he plans to convince New Democrats he can lead the party out of the wilderness without a winning record of his own, Lewis said Jack Layton became party leader in 2003 before winning a federal seat and ultimately led the party to Official Opposition status in 2011.

His grandfather David Lewis was a founding member and former leader of the federal NDP, while his father Stephen Lewis led the Ontario NDP.

Lewis is one of the co-authors of the Leap Manifesto, a 2015 document that outlined 15 policy points aimed at steering Canada away from fossil fuels.

Other potential candidates for the leadership include Manitoba NDP MP Leah Gazan, who said Wednesday she has received “a lot of pressure” from across Canada to run and is still considering her options.

Political activist Yves Engler also has announced his intention to run for the NDP leadership.

Candidates need to raise $100,000 to appear on the ballot. They also must gather 500 signatures from across the country that meet conditions set by the party for regional and demographic representation.

Candidates must submit the final of four financial deposits by Jan. 31, 2026 to appear on the ballot for the March 29, 2026 convention in Winnipeg.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press