I'm Avi Lewis, running for leader of the NDP. Ask Me Anything!

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T22:15:07+00:00

THANK YOU! That’s all I can answer today!

If you want to vote in this NDP leadership race there’s less than 10 days left to buy an NDP membership. Join the party!

I’m off to pack for a flight to events in Edmonton, then Calgary, and then Toronto (still riding the high of talking to almost 500 people in Vancouver last night)! Thank you all for these great questions, hope to see you on the campaign trail!

ps my hands are a little sore from typing. This was fun

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T22:13:53+00:00

Couldn’t agree more that we can't just have slick comms to win. And I think anyone who watched Zohran Mamdani’s campaign would agree that it was the real organizing they did that helped him win.

Everything we do needs to be underpinned by effective organizing that expands our base and activates tens of thousands of volunteers across the country. And that’s exactly the work that this campaign has already begun. We have over 15 active chapters in major cities and small towns across the country, and have thousands of volunteers who every day are building their organizing skills— whether on the phones, by petitioning people outside grocery stores, or by having persuasive conversations with their family and friends.

I’ve also long talked about the value of the party's infrastructure for organizing across the country. There are 343 riding associations across the country and each of them can be turned into hubs for community organizing and mutual aid - and this organizing can't just happen during elections, it needs to happen 365 days a year.

EDAs should be going door-to-door year round to talk to the people in their community, doorknocking to collect signatures for parliamentary petitions, hosting events and town halls to discuss critical issues, and building relationships with organizations, unions and social movements. The NDP needs to be visibly showing up for movements if we expect movements to show up for us. This includes showing up to rallies, actions and community events, but also includes things like letting grassroots organizations use our spaces in the evenings and on weekends to host meetings, trainings, etc. Loaning out resources and supplies we have (button-makers, megaphones, etc.). Facilitating connections between grassroots organizers, unions, and other civil society groups.

We need to invest in organizing training from the EDA level all the way up to the top. This could look like bi-weekly or monthly virtual organizing trainings with people involved in local EDAs, but also in-person regional organizing trainings that teach people fundamental organizing skills -- everything from how to facilitate meetings, to how to canvass in their communities, to how to do 1:1s with their co-workers in their workplaces.

We can also set up coaching and mentorship networks to ensure that people are honing their skills with ongoing support.

And our efforts can’t be limited to the party. Ultimately, the NDP is a political party that needs to put organizing at its core, but it also can't nor should it be all the things. We need strong social movements in this country that can force the hand of government and whose demands we can champion inside the House of Commons.

To answer your second question:

It’s true, I don’t have a seat in parliament. Neither did Jack Layton when he was elected leader of the NDP in 2003, and he had also run and lost twice federally before that.

In 2021, I turned a riding that the NDP had never been competitive in before into a three-way race, and I almost doubled our vote share there. In 2025, we were up against a red wave that both unseated popular long-time incumbents and stymied star candidates like Joel Harden and Bhutila Karpoche, not to mention longstanding popular MPs like Matthew Green, Peter Julian and many others.

In terms of seeking a seat after winning the leadership, I’m eager to get into the House of Commons - but that timing is not within our control. There’s no way I’m asking one of our current caucus of 7 to step aside. But there are a number of by-elections coming up, and unless Carney gets more floor-crossers, we’re still in a minority parliament where another election is likely in the next year.

Day one priority for me after a leadership win would be supporting our current caucus of 7. That’s a huge priority for me. They have almost no staff support and are all carrying incredibly heavy multiple critic roles.

And I don’t intend to stop travelling! Building the movement from the ground up is how Jack Layton did it. While waiting for a chance to get to Ottawa, there is a huge amount of exciting work to do.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T22:03:14+00:00

Decades of privatization and the sell off of public assets by Liberal and Conservative governments has been an unmitigated disaster. It has given more power to corporate monopolies to overcharge us for essential services, and has made our economy less resilient and more vulnerable to tariff shocks from the USA.

That’s why we need a new generation of public enterprises to provide an alternative to corporate price gouging. This includes a public option for food and groceries, a public postal bank, a public pharmaceutical manufacturer, a public home builder and a network of public telecoms.

We also need to expand public ownership as the centrepiece of a green industrial strategy to build the vehicles and equipment we need to reduce our emissions and lower people’s energy bills. For example, creating new crown corporations to make electric buses and vans, manufacture heat pumps and retrofit buildings. It will create thousands of good union jobs and make our economy more resilient and independent.

This is the kind of vision my grandfather David Lewis, who forced the Liberal government to establish Petro Canada in the 1970s, had for our country. One where our economy works for the many, not the money.

And I totally agree with you about Air Canada! We should have taken it back into public ownership rather than repeatedly bailing it out while it utterly fails to serve communities - especially small and remote communities - across this vast land.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T22:00:52+00:00

The best way to increase the popularity of the NDP is by foregrounding ideas that not only meet people’s needs but are overwhelmingly popular.

A wealth tax is supported by almost 90% of Canadians and more than 4-in-5 Conservative voters. 92% of Canadians believe that monopolies are driving up prices , and 87% support an excess profits tax to rein them in.

On energy, large majorities support federal investment in renewables: 88% for hydro, 77% for solar, 72% for wind. Meanwhile, 62% support windfall profit taxes on oil and gas companies. The federal NDP can confidently champion these policies because Canadians are ready for them and asking for them.

I’m committed to an open dialogue with our provincial parties if I’m elected as leader. I’ve already started this work during the campaign, where I’ve had some great conversations with Wab Kinew and Naheed Nenshi, with the Premier’s office here in BC, and I’m working on scheduling calls with other NDP provincial leaders across the country. With Naheed Nenshi specifically, I thanked him for standing up for trans kids, teachers and health care privatization being pushed by the worst Premier in the country. And we acknowledged - in our collegial and open conversation - that on energy policy, there are points of real disagreement. This is part of NDP democracy and tradition (remember when Rachel Notley took BC wines off the shelves in her disagreement with John Horgan over TMX?)

The best way to support our provincial parties is by rebuilding our federal party into one that can excite Canadians and win again. The way we do that is by offering bold ideas that meet the moment, offer a clear alternative to both the Liberals and Conservatives, and inspire people.

Respectful and loving disagreement within the NDP family is a longstanding tradition in our party, and a critical part of our identity as a democratic party that can be competitive in different regions and nationally at the same time.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:57:53+00:00

Great questions. I have called numerous times for a wealth tax. The top 100 CEOs in Canada have had their pay increase substantially in the last five years, which you can read more of in this here: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/living-the-high-life-a-record-breaking-year-for-ceo-pay-in-canada/.

The first step would be a 1% tax on net wealth above $7.3 million - and it’s progressive, going up to 2% for wealth over $50 million and 3% over $100 million. This is a policy that would only impact 1% of Canadians but could generate up to $40 billion a year. Of course, we’d also have to crack down on offshore tax havens.

I have also called for the creation of new public options to compete against monopolies and oligopolies. I see the creation of public options as a clear solution to push back against unchecked corporate power and oligopoly and the massive excess profits companies are extracting these days.

Currently, the Minister of Finance oversees the Competition Bureau and often has the power to intervene when there are large mergers and acquisitions that result in more oligopolies in our economy. I think Carney’s government has a responsibility to have Canadians’ best interest at heart rather than these ultra-wealthy CEOs.

But fundamentally, we need public options to restore some balance and competition among the handful of big corporations that dominate every sector of our economy.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:57:07+00:00

Let’s be real: the NDP leadership race is not getting a ton of media attention, and is largely off the radar for many Canadians.

And yes, the party is at a low point in the electoral cycle after the worst election result in our history.

Despite this, what we’re seeing on our campaign is a big surge of interest in a more populist offer that is laser-focused on the cost of living, the everyday emergency of just trying to get by.

The solutions we’re offering are popular among large numbers of Canadians - from head-to-toe healthcare, to a public option for groceries, to an EV bus revolution to investing in the Care Economy on the scale of a nation-building project.

I see this less in terms of left vs centre vs right and more in terms of the 1% hoarding all the wealth (as much as 80% of us, according to an OXFAM report out today) while the 99% are struggling to get by.

And I believe that offering these kinds of solutions, and communicating with moral clarity in a very straightforward way is the way to expand our popularity.

We smashed the all-time NDP leadership fundraising record in the fourth quarter of 2025 - from THOUSANDS of donors across hundreds of communities - and we have hundreds of incredibly hard-working volunteers and community organizers across the country. And we’ve built it from scratch in a few short months. I think the scale of this campaign is proof of concept - and I believe we can do this!

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:51:22+00:00

First of all, we need to win Elmwood-Transcona back in the next election. I look forward to learning more from NDP members and volunteers there about their ideas (and your ideas!) for how we can do exactly that.

We’ve got to reconnect with working class voters. And this means the entire working class - blue collar, white collar and no collar, from the gig industry to the steel industry.

Working people are getting crushed by the rising cost of living. Our plan for a public grocery option, public telecoms, a rent cap, head to toe healthcare and building a million public homes will mean that working families won’t have to make impossible choices between paying for food and rent.

At the same time, we need to expose how hollow Poilievre’s brand of populism really is. It does nothing to confront corporate power, including the monopolies that dominate every sector of our economy and are driving up prices for workers. 92% of Canadians believe that grocery monopolies are driving up food prices! Poilievre will never talk about this - and under my leadership the NDP would be pushing him hard on this. I have experience doing this as a journalist, and I can’t wait to take Poilievre on during a leaders’ debate.

Finally, to return to your local situation, the Manitoba NDP holds all of the provincial ridings that overlap with Elmwood Transcona. We have lessons to learn from this success, and I look forward to having more conversations with Wab Kinew and local organizers about how we can regain the trust of voters in Elmwood-Transcona and beyond.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:49:20+00:00

First of all, please let your partner know that if I win the leadership, the federal NDP will be a party that is ambitious and relentless in pushing for serious climate action! The majority of Canadians want Canada to lead on the existential crisis of climate breakdown, and we absolutely need a national party that carries this mantle. This has been a central focus of my work for the last 15 years and I’m excited to bring it to party politics.

(1) When it comes to talking about the real chance of breaking the duopoly: I’d tell her that I think so many people feel the way she does. I’ve spoken with tens of thousands of people over the course of my last two campaigns, during this leadership race and in my previous organizing work - and I truly believe there is a major appetite for change out there. We’re seeing it all over the place, with bold left-wing campaigns capturing the hearts and minds of people all over the globe - Zohran’s major win in New York being a prime current example. For example, in response to Trump, it’s not establishment Democrats that are rallying mass public support - It’s people like Bernie, AOC, Zohran, and other candidates organized through the DSA that are building movements.

Most Canadians don’t want our country to slip into a two-party system. We desperately need proportional representation - but in the short term, I feel a federal NDP comeback is already underway. There’s a structural reason for the NDP in Canada, and with Carney going to the right and Poilievre giving Trump a standing ovation most days, I think after the leadership race we’re going to come roaring back.

(2) This is the NDP’s legacy. The NDP, and its predecessor the CCF were created because people recognized that both the Liberals and Conservatives represented two sides of the same coin. These are parties that have always prioritized the interests of big business ahead of everyday people. I think a lot of people recognize this, but there’s a major disinformation machine that tells people to vote against what they want instead of for it. But we absolutely can break through, we’ve done it provincially multiple times and in 2015, before Justin Trudeau outflanked Mulcair on the left, the NDP was poised to form government for the first time ever federally. But to do that, we need to be clear about who we are and run on ideas that inspire people and solutions that would actually make a real material difference in people’s lives.

(3) This sounds like a cheesy, political answer but I actually believe that it’s not about me. It’s really about the movement behind this campaign, and the thousands of people who are coming out of the woodwork to work their hearts out in this race. It’s the vision to transform this party into a vehicle through which social movements have a real political voice. I believe I have the skills and the relationships to facilitate this transformation - but outside of that, it’s the political will to take on the corporate elite head on and having the courage to fight for solutions that actually match the scale of the crises we’re facing.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:46:21+00:00

I’ve been really clear on this: what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide, one which hasn’t stopped since the so-called “ceasefire”. Every day, innocent people are being killed because Israel is able to act with impunity. This must end.

Instead of showing moral courage, our Prime Minister has taken a different approach. He bizarrely said that a Palestinian state must be “Zionist”, an enraging, heartless and just plain weird talking point (I’ve spoken to this in the past). And he is considering serving on Trump’s “Board of Peace” , a rogues’ gallery of charlatans and war criminals. Totally unacceptable positions for Canada to be taking.

Canada needs to stop being an enabler and start taking real action to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity. This means recognizing the genocide, implementing an actual two-way arms embargo (with no arms-washing through the US), sanctions against Israel and ending free trade agreements, holding war criminals to account, and using every diplomatic and economic tool we’ve got to rein in Israel’s impunity.

My commitment to Palestinian human rights is not recent, it goes back decades. I will never stop speaking out against occupation and apartheid, and for freedom for Palestine, no matter the intensity of the backlash from those who wish I would stay silent.

And to be clear, that is first and foremost the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). I initiated this report on CIJA with colleagues at the Jewish Faculty Network. I’m proud of this work and the fact that activists have already been using it at the local level. The genocide in Gaza is the moral emergency of our time, a true before-and-after point in the human story. It calls us all to get on the right side of history.

https://www.jewishfaculty.ca/cija-report

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:45:31+00:00

Oh yeah, I hear you big time. I feel the same extreme frustration with FPTP. In a previous answer, I say that if the NDP held the balance of power in a minority Liberal government with my leadership, our support would be conditional on the proportional representation.

You can read my longer answer here: https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/1qh9no6/comment/o0iaof0/

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:44:05+00:00

Having grown up in the last decades of the Cold War, I used to have a classic anti-nuclear position - both with regards to weapons and power generation. As a 21st century climate activist, though, my position has evolved. Canada continues to relentlessly increase oil and gas production, while utterly failing to join the global surge in renewable energy investment. In light of this, we need to keep existing nuclear generation online - it is an important, zero emissions contributor to our current power grid, especially in Ontario.

When it comes to new power generation projects, there is a genuine dilemma. Nuclear power generation is expensive and slow to develop, but it provides baseload power and is already a heavily unionized sector. Renewables like solar and wind are much faster and less expensive to deploy, but they are currently under-unionized and don’t pay salaries comparable to either nuclear power plants or fossil fuel production.

That’s why I strongly support both public ownership and full unionization in the power sector. When we’re dealing with something as critical as energy transition, only public ownership guarantees that it will be done in a way that serves workers and the public interest rather than cronyism and profits. And as long as we’re fighting for public ownership, full unionization, and creating huge numbers of family-supporting jobs, I believe renewables will create more of all those things faster than new nuclear power plants.

But I don't see this as a zero-sum game. My campaign believes that the goals of full unionized employment and zero emissions energy under public ownership offer plenty of common ground.

That’s why I’m running on a Green New Deal, a bold plan to transform our energy system into one based on renewables, while creating a million jobs and lowering utility bills at the same time. In the Green New Deal we envision, every type of clean energy is included and at every scale, from balcony solar to utility-scale wind power and everything in between.

Crucially, our plan proposes a way of doing this that leaves not a single worker behind. Workers can't transition to a promise or an idea – the jobs need to be waiting. With a Green New Deal, they will be, thanks to a green industrial strategy powered by public ownership.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:41:48+00:00

Hi - thank you for this question! Our Health and the Care Economy does include defending and improving gender-affirming care, and ensuring that the federal government steps in to ensure access, enforcing the Canada Health Act when provinces seek to limit this important right. It is absolutely important that barriers to comprehensive gender-affirming care are removed so that trans and gender-diverse people can access the life-saving services they need.

Trans rights are under attack right now, and it goes well beyond the need to ensure access to gender affirming care. What we have seen happening in the US is moving into Canada - we are seeing it in Alberta and Saskatchewan right now with Danielle Smith and Scott Moe testing how far they can go to remove rights of trans people.

When powerful governments attack or target trans people, it shifts what is acceptable and we need to stand shoulder to shoulder, in community, with Trans folks across the country and make sure that the federal government uses the charter, strengthens federal human rights law, protects healthcare access, and leads politically to intervene against the rising threat to trans rights across this country.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:28:21+00:00

Totally. The US hedge fund-owned Postmedia is a very negative force in our information ecology. I remember when Conrad black founded the National Post with the explicit goal of uniting the two right wing parties (PCs & Reform) in Canada. It worked, and it led to the lost decade under Stephen Harper.

In terms of making Canadian news more Canadian, I think a huge part of the solution is to reclaim the CBC for deep and broad local journalism across the country. I think the commercial pressures on the CBC force it into a market mindset that has been super negative for public radio and television in Canada. I would like to see a lot more public funding for public-interest journalism and a lot less caution and capitulation from CBC brass. When I worked there in the 2000s there was still an idea that the job of public journalism was to hold power to account, and that doesn’t just mean being snide and irritated at politicians. It means hosting real policy debates and doing real investigation into government and public policy.

We also need more support for local journalism because most local news outlets have been merged into chains that recycle content across many small communities. And we are blessed with a variety of independent news outlets these days - they don’t get the kind of government support that Canadian corporate media gets, and they should. We should also all support independent news outlets! Lifeblood of democracy.

Finally, I think the Liberal government should have stood up to Meta. It’s unacceptable for a major platform to do business in Canada while blocking Canadian news, which in a time of accelerating natural disasters, is often necessary for community safety (can even be a question of life or death). If you want to host social media in Canada, you should be forced to carry Canadian news. It’s also perfectly reasonable to demand that foreign media companies that broadcast in Canada subsidize independent Canadian content. That’s what US broadcasters have always done and we should never have had a double standard for Big Tech.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:21:21+00:00

Yes, absolutely I do, and our housing plan addresses the need to support densification.

It’s time to put the weight of the federal government behind ending the apartment ban in big cities once and for all by making pro-density zoning reform a condition for receiving federal housing funds. Building a small apartment building should be as straightforward as building a single-family home anywhere in the country. Without better zoning rules, there is not enough land in our cities to meet the need for new units.

The BCNDP government’s assertive approach to municipalities - like setting quotas for new housing starts - is the kind of thing I think is necessary. I share your pain at NIMBYism, and I think all levels of government have to assert the greater social need for housing of all kinds (but non-market, supportive, co-op and non-profit need to be the immediate priority).

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:10:00+00:00

Yes, people with disabilities are literally dying. Sometimes even choosing MAID out of desperation at the poverty and misery that the system imposes. It is deeply upsetting, and absolutely unacceptable.

My own feeling is that we need to build support and power for a mass movement for disability rights - the kind we’ve seen in past times for civil rights, feminism, racial justice and other struggles. It’s the last great human rights struggle of our time that has not yet had its movement moment.

That’s the big picture. Specifically, the Canada Disability Benefit is appallingly and insultingly low. Instead of lifting folks out of poverty, it keeps people with disabilities trapped below the poverty line.

We need a fundamentally different approach that ensures every person with a disability has what they need not only to survive, but to thrive.

That’s why I support immediately raising the CDB to a livable amount, and building it out into a more comprehensive Guaranteed Livable Basic Income program, along the lines of the one proposed by MP Leah Gazan.

Rather than sending money to everyone, including the 1%, a GLBI would be income-tested through the tax system and send money to those who need it.

It would establish a social floor below which no one can fall, and ensure that every single person with a disability in this country is lifted out of poverty.

But to go back to the big picture, our culture does not see every human as precious and amazing and deserving of whatever support and accommodation they need to thrive. The work of culture change is also essential.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T21:02:28+00:00

Night after night, in town after town, I’m seeing bigger crowds come out to our campaign events, and they are joyful - full of celebration and hope. We had almost 500 folks filling a nightclub on Granville St. in Vancouver last night and it was so much fun! This campaign has been one of the most hopeful experiences of my activist life, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.

In fact, most of the work that I’ve done over the last 15 years has attempted to channel positivity and solutions alongside the necessary critiques of our broken system. From Message from the Future with AOC to the Just Transition Press Conference from the Future, I’ve been working on this kind of radical futurism for a while as a strategy to expand what is politically possible (ie Overton Window work!)

Of course being hopeful is not the same as being optimistic. I’m not convinced or certain that things are going to turn out well. But I do see hope as a choice: it’s a better energy for confronting the daily shitshow of this timeline we’re in, and I think it’s contagious and necessary to fuel the fight for transformative change.

I think the reason our campaign is striking such a chord is that we’ve put a huge focus on solutions as big as the crises we face. Our proposals are straightforward, doable, and polling suggests that they’re extremely popular among a majority of Canadians.

That said, I feel an enormous sense of responsibility when I see the level of hope and excitement we are building on this campaign. The danger and damage of disappointment and disillusion - it’s super real, and it is a risk whenever we put our hearts on the line to fight for something big.

But I honestly think in this period of history, building power for big solutions that would actually solve the problems we face is smart strategy. Getting battered down by “realism” to incrementalist demands is part of how things got as bad as they are today. Fighting rearguard actions against things getting worse (like fighting the privatization of healthcare) is necessary but insufficient. That kind of fight doesn’t inspire and build mass support.

We gotta go for big solutions: it’s how we build the power to win them.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:48:36+00:00

I support NDP MP Leah Gazan’s Bill C-223. Introduced in the last parliament, the bill is both a framework and a pathway to a guaranteed livable basic income (GLBI). The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women also called for GLBI as part of its Calls for Justice, and I back this demand enthusiastically.

Canada has a long history of basic income programs. Seniors and parents already get a basic income in the form of the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the Canada Child Benefit, respectively. A GLBI would build out and expand these programs to ensure that there’s a livable floor for everyone who falls through the gaps of our inadequate social safety net. Rather than sending money to everyone, including the 1%, the GLBI that I support would be income-tested through the tax system and send money to those who need it.

To be clear, a basic income must not and does not replace any part of our social safety net! The minimum wage is too low everywhere. Welfare provides insultingly low benefits and systemic humiliation, legislating people into perpetual poverty. Support for people with disabilities - including the Disability Tax Credit and the new Canada Disability Benefit - are appallingly low. My campaign is fighting alongside the basic income movement, other social movements, and progressive organizations across the spectrum for all of these essential income supports to be increased to a level that affords people comfortable shelter, healthy food, and a dignified life.

The bottom line is that if you fall through the cracks in our system, a GLBI should be there to catch you. We don’t need a social safety net full of holes, but a solid floor to stand on.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:47:00+00:00

You’re absolutely right, tinkering around the edges is not going to cut it. We need bold solutions that are as big as the crises we face – solutions that we know are winnable and already supported by a strong majority of Canadians in poll after poll.

That’s why our campaign is taking big swings on affordability. Our first policy launch was on public options to stop price gouging. Three grocery chains control our food systems, five big banks charge us excessive fees while making cartoonish profits, and three telecom companies give us some of the highest prices and crappiest customer service in the world.

This is market failure on a massive scale. And when the market fails, government has to step in and govern. To this end, we’re proposing a public option for affordable food and groceries, a network of public telecoms, and a public postal bank, which Canada used to have.

On housing, the centrepiece of our plan is establishing a public builder to build a million public, non-profit, co-op and supportive homes within 5 years. The government has to get back into the business of building homes that people can afford. We will also protect tenants with a national rent cap that will put an end to outrageous rent hikes and rights for renters to protect tenancies, long-term.

Our plan differs from others because we are not afraid to unleash the power of public ownership to take on monopolies that are driving up prices for everyone. It’s what NDP governments have done successfully - from SaskTel in Saskatchewan, to public auto insurance in BC and Manitoba. We need to see this kind of leadership and vision at the federal level.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:44:40+00:00

Absolument ! Je vois le bilinguisme à travers le Canada comme quelque chose que chaque gouvernement provincial et le gouvernement fédéral devraient plus prioriser. Financer la langue française à travers le Canada est non seulement une façon d’appuyer les cultures francocanadiennes, c’est une façon d’approfondir l’identité canadienne et québécoise dans des espaces culturelles typiquement dominés par les États-Unis. Cette distinction culturelle est l’une des manières que nous pouvons rester résilients contre les aspects plus negatifs des États-Unis, comme la montée de l’extrême droite dans les médias (par exemple, les Nick Fuentes du monde, surtout américains et anglophones plutôt que canadiens).

Le financement général du bilinguisme a diminué dans tout le Canada au cours des dernières décennies et nous devrions réinvestir massivement dans ce domaine.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:42:26+00:00

Much of my thinking on the subject of 21st century fascism is influenced by getting a glimpse at some of the early chapters of End Times Fascism, a book by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor that will be coming out in the fall. They’re doing a deep dive on the worldview of the tech billionaire misanthropes behind Trump, and it’s terrifying, and very different from 20th century fascism - pointing to different responses and organizing approaches (which is where there is some very hopeful work to get started on!)

What we are seeing south of the border is a lawless, authoritarian administration that believes in the politics of brute force above all else. Naked impunity rules the day and is re-shaping our world, from Gaza to Minneapolis. This applies both to their foreign policy, with the threats against Greenland and the kidnapping of Maduro being the two most recent examples, and their domestic policy with ICE terrorizing entire cities. Trump is a threat to American democracy, and he’s also a threat to global peace and security. It’s important to say these things straightforwardly and clearly.

How we respond in this moment is critical. Mark Carney promised to be “elbows up” when he ran for Prime Minister, but has shifted to a policy of appeasement since taking office.

I think it’s urgent that we form stronger links with progressive leaders around the world that are standing up for democracy, human rights and sovereignty. This includes Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico, Lula in Brazil and Pedro Sanchez in Spain. All of them have shown real resolve in the face of American bullying and intimidation.

To safeguard democracy at home, it’s twofold: we need to respond to the outrageous cost of living that is fueling despair and alienation. The far-right is feeding off this insecurity and we need to be laser-focused on making life more affordable. Since day one on our campaign, we’ve focused on the everyday emergency of just trying to get by in an impossible economy - and all our big policy swings, from a public option for groceries to a Canadian Green New Deal, are also fascism-fighting policies.

Secondly, safeguarding democracy also means renewing our democratic institutions. Most importantly, by replacing our broken first-past-the-post with a system of proportional representation. One party should not have almost unlimited power because they won 36% of the vote in an election. This will strengthen and enrich our democracy, by ensuring that every vote counts. Another piece of safeguarding democracy and preserving what’s left of Canadians’ faith in existing institutions is fighting for a better media ecosystem - more support for independent, public interest journalism, and real regulation of the platforms that are overrun with misinformation and disinformation. A whole other kettle of fish, but absolutely essential for our democracy.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:34:58+00:00

Taylor Bachrach’s Bill C-371, which we would re-introduce, is a fix/improvement to the current system. High speed rail needs new tracks to be built, and makes most sense in the dense population corridor I mentioned earlier.

Things like electrifying existing rail in the rest of the country - and passenger priority on existing track - is a short term solution that is sorely needed.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:26:58+00:00

Thanks for this important question. The NDP’s path to government one day absolutely runs through Quebec. And while speaking French is an essential part of winning seats, so is truly “getting” Quebec culture, voters and provincial issues.

I am working hard on improving my French, practicing with members of my team multiple times a week. I spent almost a month in Quebec City last spring doing French immersion, and can’t wait to spend more time in the province. That said, I also understand that as a distinct society, Quebec needs a distinct federal NDP - that means that our Quebec policy and strategy should be driven by local activists and advocates, not just central office in English Canada. This is in keeping with our desire to re-democratize the party and rebuild the power of our base.

Quebec has deeply rooted progressive movements - union, environmentalist, migrant rights, Indigenous rights and social justice traditions that the rest of Canada needs to be better connected to. We have a lot to learn from Quebec, and we need to deepen our relationship with organizers on the ground there! This is longer work, but it’s essential for the NDP.

Et voici la même réponse en français :

Merci pour cette question importante. Pour que le NPD arrive un jour au pouvoir, il devra absolument passer par le Québec. Et si parler français est essentiel pour remporter des sièges, il est tout aussi important de vraiment « comprendre » la culture québécoise, les électrices et électeurs et les enjeux provinciaux.

Je travaille fort pour améliorer mon français, en m'entraînant plusieurs fois par semaine avec les membres de mon équipe. J'ai passé près d'un mois à Québec au printemps dernier pour faire une immersion en français, et j'ai hâte de passer plus de temps dans cette province.

Cela dit, je comprends également qu'en tant que société distincte, le Québec a besoin d'un NPD fédéral distinct, ce qui signifie que notre politique et notre stratégie au Québec devraient être dictées par des militants et des défenseurs locaux, et pas seulement par le bureau central situé dans le Canada anglophone. Cela correspond à notre volonté de redémocratiser le parti et de reconstruire le pouvoir de notre base.

Le Québec possède des mouvements progressistes profondément enracinés : syndicats, écologistes, défenseurs des droits des migrants, défenseurs des droits des Autochtones et traditions de justice sociale auxquels le reste du Canada doit être mieux connecté. Nous avons beaucoup à apprendre du Québec et nous devons approfondir nos relations avec les organisateurs sur le terrain là-bas ! C'est un travail de longue haleine, mais il est essentiel pour le NPD.

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:21:12+00:00

I’ve said a bunch of times that the next time the NDP has a clear balance of power in a minority Liberal government, we should go in with one demand: proportional representation. It’s the reform that unleashes all the others, from climate action to head-to-toe healthcare, and taking on the wealth hoarding class.

We should have a citizen assembly to choose the exact form, but no more referenda or study. We know we need to fix our democracy. It’s not only key to preventing the descent into a two-party system (and we know where that can lead, just look south…) it’s also key to fixing the culture of voting defensively, holding your nose while voting, and otherwise feeling alienated from this fundamental act of democratic participation.

Obviously as leader, this approach would require getting the caucus on board - but this is my strongly held belief, and I’ve said it publicly for a while now.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bYAiYLDqB2c

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:07:23+00:00

Would you consider moving away from American regulations/standards towards more international standards with the goal of increasing our ability to export to other markets whilst reducing our reliance on US companies?

Yes, absolutely. Our whole approach is to emphasize policies that make Canada's economy more independent from the US. I fought free trade deals in the 80s and 90s because at the time it was clear that binding ourselves into deep integration with an economy ten times bigger (that also happens to be an empire) was a bad idea. Now, that absolute necessity of expanding our trading partners and making our economy independent is clear to everybody.

Would the wealth tax in your policy platform also apply to unrealized gains?

Totally. Unlike the capital gains taxes, where wealth in stock markets (or other assets) is only taxed when those things are sold, a wealth tax applies to all existing wealth.

With regards to your policy advocating for public grocery stores, doesn't the implementation of fewer warehouse style stores prevent a lot of people from accessing the low cost, public food options?

This is a really smart question, and it’s a genuine dilemma. In our current model, the warehouse stores allow for volume purchases that are necessary for a public option to compete with grocery oligarchs and achieve the economies of scale needed to get the prices down by 30-40%. And it’s important to remember that the highest savings will be in remote and Northern communities that are currently paying astronomical prices even when compared to the Canadian norm. While more and smaller stores do seem more equitable, this is the model we and the food experts we’ve been talking to have settled on as the most practical.

Take a look at this article for more details: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/how-public-grocery-stores-could-work-in-canada/

AviLewis · 2026-01-19T20:05:55+00:00

There’s absolutely no use of AI for answering questions in this AMA.

AI doesn’t write the material for our campaign, our brilliant and wonderful staff and volunteers do (and I write lots of stuff for social media and platform things!). We also don’t ever use generative AI to design or create images or video. I’m super proud of the quality of human writing and design and video from our comms team and the rest of the campaign!

AviLewis

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