Most NDP leadership candidates say they’re in no hurry to become MPs

Four of the five federal NDP leadership candidates say they won’t be in a hurry to enter the House of Commons if they win — a position the only MP in the race calls “a little bit odd.”

Filmmaker Avi Lewis said if he is chosen as the new NDP leader next week, his main priority will be to prepare the party’s grassroots for an election.

“The race has been a great way to get into communities and really get on the ground with people and witness the daily struggles of Canadians and refine our solutions that would make life easier. And I’m excited to continue that work,” Lewis told The Canadian Press.

“I think particularly, you know, where our party is at, we’ve been building the ground game for the next election in our campaign.”

Three other candidates — union leader Rob Ashton, farmer Tony McQuail and social worker Tanille Johnston — agree that getting a seat in the House of Commons isn’t their immediate priority.

Johnston said the party needs first to ensure candidates are nominated early to attract volunteers and set up strong riding associations for the next election.

“I’m a big proponent of running nomination races like, max six months after election cycles, so we always have a candidate,” she said.

“We really vote for the person and without a candidate, without even a name to attach to a campaign, it makes it really hard to get people super committed to voting and then coming on volunteering, so we really need to get our candidates out ASAP.”

Heather McPherson has won her federal Edmonton riding in the last three elections. Throughout the campaign, she’s stressed the need to have a leader who can push the NDP’s priorities in the House on day one.

She said she finds it strange that her leadership rivals aren’t in a hurry to enter the House.

“I find that, to be honest, a little bit odd. I mean, realistically, we are a political party, and the business of politics happens within the House of Commons,” McPherson said.

She said that while attending to the grassroots is critical, “being able to stand in the House of Commons and ask questions during question period … and hold the government accountable is the job that we are all running for.”

Jagmeet Singh was elected party leader in October 2017 but did not enter the House of Commons until he won a Vancouver-area seat in February 2019.

McQuail, the self-described green progressive candidate, said he would consider running in a byelection outside his community if local riding associations, the NDP, Greens and other progressive parties invited him to run.

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“But I think our real critical need at the moment is to be rebuilding and strengthening our local electoral district associations, our riding associations, and dramatically increasing their connection in their own communities,” he said.

Ashton said he sees the next leader’s main job as one of winning back voters’ trust. He said he’d spend the early part of his leadership driving across the country meeting people face-to-face.

“We have to reconnect with Canadian society. Because if we don’t, how are we going to gain their trust back? By a tweet? That doesn’t work. By an Instagram post? That doesn’t work,” he said.

“Social media is good for getting your message out, but to regain the trust, I prefer meeting with as many people as I can and looking them dead in the eye and having those hard conversations.”

There may be other tough conversations ahead for the NDP about tensions between the provincial and federal parties on energy and the environment.

The McPherson camp issued an email to members last week with the subject line: “Grim Leaper. It’s happening again.”

The email cited the Saskatchewan Party’s attacks on former Saskatchewan NDP MLA Cathy Sproule over her party’s association with the Leap Manifesto.

That title refers to a policy paper co-authored in 2015 by Lewis, and published in the middle of the 2015 federal election campaign. It called for, among other things, a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects and an economy fuelled entirely by clean energy by 2050.

While it wasn’t an NDP policy platform, after the party’s disappointing showing in the 2015 election some New Democrats called for it to be adopted.

That led to some tense disagreements about the party’s direction, with critics of the manifesto arguing it made federal and provincial New Democrats uncompetitive in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The Leap Manifesto was a political millstone around the neck of Rachel Notley when she led an NDP government in Alberta from 2015 to 2019. The McPherson campaign pointed out that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been using the manifesto to attack provincial NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi.

“It’s been a priority for me … to not be a problem for the provincial parties as they are fighting to take government, fighting to keep government. And I have some worries,” McPherson said.

“I mean, I was in Edmonton. I saw the impact that happens when the federal party is not being supportive of the provincial party.”

Lewis said he’s staying focused on presenting solutions for problems facing Canadians today instead of dredging up “old debates from a decade ago.”

He pointed to an online survey his campaign commissioned, conducted by StratCom, that suggests about 94 per cent of New Democrats agree members can have disagreements on specific issues and 88 per cent want to stop building new fossil fuel infrastructure.

He said the nearly 4,700 respondents to the poll were told it was being conducted on behalf of his campaign.

“Not everybody agrees on the policy proposals, and that’s OK,” Lewis said. “That’s the beauty of politics.”

All of the leadership contenders say they plan to run federally in the next election.

There are three byelections set for April 13 which could give the Liberals a majority. Even if that happens, Johnston said, the NDP needs to keep the leadership campaign’s momentum going.

“I don’t want to sit down because maybe the Liberals are going to hold a majority for three years,” she said.

“Our sense of urgency is now and we have to act on it. We, historically, have kind of put that momentum down between elections and we have to stop doing that.”

Voting in the six-month leadership campaign concludes on March 28. The candidates are spending the next week on get-out-the-vote efforts and preparing for the Winnipeg convention. McQuail said he’s also making sure he has enough hay ready for his horses and cattle while he’s away.

The next NDP leader will be announced on March 29.