Good morning. The NDP is hoping to reverse years of decline when it picks a new party leader this weekend – more on that below, along with the battle over a Rogers estate and a landmark decision in the social media addiction trial. But first:
Today’s headlines
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Open this photo in gallery:
The NDP leadership candidates, from left: Rob Ashton, Tanille Johnston, Avi Lewis, Heather McPherson and Tony McQuail.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Politics
The reboot
Last year’s federal election was not a good time for New Democrats. They nabbed just 6.3 per cent of the popular vote, their worst result since the NDP’s founding back in 1961. They were reduced to seven seats in the House of Commons, also a record low. They lost official party status – 12 MPs are needed – then lost their leader, Jagmeet Singh, who failed to win his B.C. riding and promptly stepped down.
And their fortunes have hardly improved lately. Nunavut MP Lori Idlout left the NDP for the Liberals two weeks ago, nudging Prime Minister Mark Carney even closer to a majority government. In Quebec, Alexandre Boulerice – the party’s only MP east of Manitoba – is openly mulling a jump to provincial politics. Yesterday, Angus Reid released a poll of 1,164 recent NDP voters and found a quarter of them feel the party is irrelevant. Nearly 40 per cent believe its best days are in the past.
New Democrats very much hope to change that belief on Sunday, when the party announces its next leader at a convention in Winnipeg. But the six-months-long race has barely registered among those recent NDP voters: 44 per cent said they don’t recognize the names of any of the five candidates.
There, at least, The Globe can help. We put together a handy cheat sheet to the contenders vying to lead the NDP.
Avi Lewis
CV: Lewis is a climate activist and former TV host who co-authored the no-more-pipelines Leap Manifesto in a bid to move the NDP to the left. He’s the frontrunner in this leadership race, raising more than $1.2-million, though he isn’t a member of Parliament, having mounted two unsuccessful campaigns. His grandfather is former federal NDP leader David Lewis; his father is former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis; his mom is journalist Michele Landsberg; and his wife is author Naomi Klein.
Key policies: Lewis wants Canada to implement a Green New Deal, ending new oil production and investing two per cent of the country’s GDP to fight climate change. He’s proposed government-run grocery stores and building a million public homes to address affordability issues.
Heather McPherson
CV: McPherson is the only leadership candidate with a seat in the House of Commons, representing Edmonton Strathcona since 2019. She has served as the NDP’s deputy house leader, whip and foreign affairs critic, pushing the Liberal government to do more to help Gaza. Before politics, she worked in international development.
Key policies: McPherson wants to build co-op and affordable homes through a federal Crown corporation, create a bill of rights for renters, and ban corporate ownership of single-family homes. She has touted her electoral record of beating Conservatives and pitched a big-tent NDP.
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More affordable housing is a major plank of each candidate’s platform.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Rob Ashton
CV: Ashton has been a dockworker in Vancouver for more than three decades and is the national president of the International Longshore Workers Union Canada, a position he’s held since 2016. This is his first time running in politics.
Key policies: Ashton wants to triple the amount of public, non-profit and co-op housing in Canada and build dedicated starter homes for first-time buyers. He’s also proposed a national jobs guarantee and giving workers mandatory seats on corporate boards.
Tanille Johnston
CV: Johnston is a social worker and city councillor in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. She’s a member of the We Wai Kai First Nation, the director of programs at the First Nations Health Authority in B.C. and, at 38, the youngest candidate in the leadership race.
Key policies: Johnston wants a guaranteed liveable basic income for Canadians, tuition-free postsecondary education, and an end to fossil fuel subsidies. She believes the country should implement electoral reform in favour of proportional representation instead.
Tony McQuail
CV: McQuail is an organic farmer in southern Ontario’s Huron County who served three terms as a Board of Education trustee there in the 1980s. He’s run in five federal and two provincial elections for the NDP, but has never won.
Key policies: McQuail wants to establish a universal basic income, as well as communal and sustainable housing arrangements. He’s also advocated for a wealth tax, electoral reform, environmental regeneration and non-profit ride share programs to connect rural Canadians.
The Shot
‘All we want is basic health.’
Open this photo in gallery:
Betty Tetso and her 5-year-old grandson, Mason, at home in Délı̨nę, NWT.Tate Juniper/The Globe and Mail
Yellowknife is virtually the only reliable place left for dental services in the Northwest Territories, forcing First Nations and Inuit peoples to travel thousands of kilometres for care – or simply go without treatment. Read more about the NWT’s dentistry deserts here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Ottawa and Alberta have agreed on a plan to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production, which could pave the way for a new pipeline to the West Coast.
Abroad: U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit in China – delayed because of his war in Iran – is back on the schedule for mid-May.
Tech: A California jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay millions in damages for deliberately designing products that are addictive to young users.
Trust: Edward Rogers has triggered a clash over his mother’s multibillion-dollar estate with an attempt to deny payments to his partner in pro sports, Larry Tanenbaum.
Music: Two years after her triumphant Olympics appearance, Celine Dion is heading back to Paris for several concerts this fall.
Screen: CBC’s North of North, Crave’s Heated Rivalry and the post-apocalyptic thriller 40 Acres scored a bunch of nominations at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards.
