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Avi Lewis is the new federal leader of the NDP, but the leaders of provincial counterparts in Alberta and Saskatchewan are making it clear they want no part of his policies.
Lewis won the leadership on the first ballot Sunday with 56 per cent of the vote, a decisive victory over four competitors.
But as Lewis begins his role, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck says she’s turning down his invitation to meet.
“The positions that you have taken when it comes to natural resource development are ideological and unrealistic,” Beck said in a letter released slightly more than an hour after Lewis’ election.
In her letter, Beck expressed concerns about previous statements by Lewis on issues like the fossil fuel sector, and said policies and positions Lewis has supported would risk $13.6 billion in economic activity for Saskatchewan.
“The NDP is the party of working people,” she wrote. “It’s impossible to support – and respect – working people without respecting the jobs they have, not the ones you think they should have.”
Beck said until Lewis reverses his stance on issues involving the province’s resource sectors, she won’t meet with him.
Lewis has previously criticized both the Liberal and Conservative governments, saying the spread of wildfires was due to a failure to limit fossil fuel emissions.
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He also recently said in an interview with The Canadian Press that Prime Minister Mark Carney had “thrown climate under the bus.”
During the leadership campaign, Lewis promised to slap an export tax on oil and gas shipped to the U.S. and to end all federal approvals for new pipelines.
Following his victory on the first ballot, Lewis said Sunday that he’s focused on party unity.
“This is a tremendous result. But even more important than the results of this leadership vote is the unity of our party,” Lewis said.
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi criticized Lewis over his policies and noted that his provincial party voted to make membership in the federal party optional.
“It is clear that the direction of the federal party under this new leader, someone who openly cheered for the defeat of the Alberta NDP government, is not in the interests of Alberta,” Nenshi wrote in a post on X.
Nenshi released his own energy policy on Friday, which includes expanding Trans Mountain pipeline capacity and revisiting projects like the Energy East pipeline.
“Albertans deserve federal leaders who understand the importance of Alberta and our essential role in the federation,” he added.
Not all provinces share the same opinion though, with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew saying he loved Lewis following the new leader’s first speech in the role and the mandate received.
Kinew said he acknowledged they may not agree on everything, but believed he and Lewis could do “big things together.”
“The big things are health care, education. Yeah, we can have debates, heated debates about any manner of other issues, but the values are there,” Kinew said. “The values are we’re fighting for the average person, we’re fighting for the people who don’t have a voice right now and that’s the most important thing.”
British Columbia Premier David Eby congratulated Lewis on his election, but was measured in his response.
“Our priority is lifting up working people and growing prosperity,” Eby wrote on X. “We will work with anyone and any federal leader who shares our priorities, and stand firm against those who put that progress at risk.”
Lewis has said he isn’t in a rush to enter the House of Commons, instead planning to start his leadership by strengthening the grassroots before seeking elected office.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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