NDP leadership hopefuls make final push ahead of convention vote

With ace hebdomad until young Democrats opt a young federal leader, the front-runner in the race says he's preparing a transition team and hopes his campaign machinery can be used in the next election.

Next weekend, New Democrats will gather to choose a leader at their convention in Winnipeg, nearly a year after Jagmeet Singh resigned following the party's most devastating election result in history.

"The team is raring to go and keep building," Lewis said.

Lewis said his campaign has exceeded his expectations in terms of donations and new memberships. Early fundraising numbers showed Lewis racked up $1.2 million, more than double his main opponent — Edmonton MP Heather McPherson.

Some of that money is helping pay a big campaign staff, Lewis said. He believes his campaign may be employing more people than the entire federal NDP has left in Ottawa, something he called "sobering" on a recent podcast.

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Lewis said if he wins, he will rebuild the NDP "on every front" — that includes finances, organizing, finding future candidates and "bringing the NDP back into the conversation" in "communities across the country."

He maintains he's not looking to run in a byelection anytime soon to get a seat in the House of Commons.

Lewis will hold one last rally in Winnipeg the night before the NDP's convention gets underway, where the leader will be announced on March 29. But he said he's "never confident" he'll win.

"There is nothing more unpredictable than politics," he said. "That's why we are sprinting for the finish line as if we were far behind — because that's the way you win."

Lewis is against four other candidates: McPherson, union leader Rob Ashton, southwestern Ontario organic farmer Tony McQuail and Vancouver Island social worker Tanille Johnston.

Fellow leadership front-runner McPherson said no matter the outcome, she plans to continue as a New Democrat and the MP for Edmonton Strathcona.

"I have a lot of work to continue to do to represent my constituents," McPherson said in an interview on Friday.

"That work continues the day after the leadership race, regardless of whether I am selected as leader or not."

McPherson — the only candidate from the Prairies — is spending her final days of campaigning in that region. She said she sees a path to victory by ensuring the people who say they support her actually cast their vote.

"We've got this phenomenal team that is working so hard to make sure that that happens," McPherson said. "It's why I was able to win my seat in Edmonton for the last three elections."

Since being elected in 2019, McPherson said her focus has been on repairing relationships with provincial New Democrat parties — in part because she's seen the successes that come from those wings forming government, like in Alberta. 

"[Former NDP premier] Rachel Notley endorsed me in this race. That's a long way from some of the damage that was done between that relationship with the federal party and the Alberta NDP."

Before deciding to run for leader, McPherson said she was already building the party across the country.

"I will continue to do that work because Canadians need a strong New Democratic Party," McPherson said.

The NDP will need to come together as a unified party after the race, she said.

"We can promise everything, but unless we get more New Democrats elected, until there are more New Democrats in the House of Commons, we cannot deliver on those promises," McPherson said.

McPherson has said if she becomes leader, she could have a direct role in holding the government to account as the only candidate that has a seat in the House.

Ashton said he thinks he could become leader by being voters' second choice.

"It's quite apparent that within the party there's quite the division between the McPherson camp and the Lewis camp," Ashton said. "What I'm hopeful is happening is that people will identify me as the candidate that can actually bring everybody together."

The Toronto Star reported earlier this week Ashton's campaign turned down an offer from McPherson's campaign to strike a deal to encourage their supporters to rank each other second on their ballot, in an effort to prevent Lewis from winning.

Ashton, who has raised the least donations of the three, said he's proud of his campaign. The union leader also works full time as president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

"If I had all that extra time to build up the donor base, and build up people that are going to volunteer across the country over a couple of years, or a lifetime, it would probably be a different story for where I am right now," Ashton said.

Ashton will spend the last few days of the campaign making a solo road trip from Vancouver to Winnipeg, making stops in small communities along the way.

"I got a set of snow tires. I'll have a blanket in the car and some food and some water and I'll be good to go," he said. "It's going to be me, some podcasts, some amazing music of a full variety. I have a very eclectic musical taste."

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