Avi Lewis’s Victory Is A Chance For Labour To Revitalize

[Oscar]

Avi Lewis’s Victory Is A Chance For Labour To Revitalize

Workers supportive of the NDP’s new direction should think seriously about how their unions are orienting themselves politically

- by Adam D.K. King - April 13, 2026 - The MAPLE

EXCERPT: "On March 29, NDP members elected Avi Lewis as their new federal leader at the party’s convention in Winnipeg.

Lewis won the election on the first ballot, securing 39,734 votes (56 per cent). The second place candidate, Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson, secured 20,899 votes (29 per cent).

The NDP uses a ranked voting system, but with Lewis’s first ballot victory, no subsequent round of vote counting was necessary.

Lewis emerged victorious after a seven-month campaign that mobilized an impressive number of young activists and volunteers, centred progressive policy proposals, and took unapologetic stands on key issues, such as the genocide in Gaza. Heading into the convention, Lewis had raised more money than all other candidates combined, while relying on more small dollar donations than his opponents.

Yet, despite Lewis’s bold workers’ rights platform, he secured fewer endorsements from unions, central labour bodies and union leaders than Rob Ashton, the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada. . . . . "

[ https://www.readthemaple.com/avi-lewis- ... newsletter ]