Newly elected federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis touring Saskatchewan

Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis pauses for a portrait during a stop in the riding of University-Rosedale, in Toronto, on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

Avi Lewis, the newly elected leader of the federal New Democrats, is scheduled to tour much of Saskatchewan this week.

Scheduled to make 11 stops over the course of five days, Lewis will travel to several major centres including Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, along with several First Nations.

In its announcement, the New Democrats said the tour will allow Lewis to introduce himself to Canadians while “reconnecting the party to its working-class base from coast to coast to coast.”

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The selection of Saskatchewan to kick off Lewis’s tour was intentional – as the province was the birthplace of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation or CCF – the precursor to the NDP.

Lewis’s appointment to the top of the federal party’s ranks was met with dissension in the prairies. Both Naheed Nenshi and Carla Beck, leaders of the Alberta and Saskatchewan NDP, publicly voiced their concerns of the new leader – citing his stance on the fossil fuel industry.

Lewis is scheduled to make his first tour stop on Cowessess First Nation Wednesday at 3 p.m.