CHARBONNEAU – Avi Lewis is the right leader for the NDP

AVI LEWIS will rebuild the federal NDP.

Lewis has the credentials. Politics and public affairs are in his blood.

His father, Stephen Lewis, was leader of the Ontario NDP, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, and later a prominent humanitarian and HIV/AIDS advocate.  His grandfather, David Lewis, led the federal NDP from 1971 to 1975.

He and his wife, Naomi Klein, form a powerful team.  She is an internationally acclaimed author and political activist. Her books include: No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, and This Changes Everything.

His style will be decidedly different from that of the former leader, Jagmeet Singh.

Singh used the NDP’s leverage effectively with the Trudeau government to secure policies that likely would not have been adopted otherwise, such as the Canadian Dental Care Plan and National pharmacare legislation.

But these successes didn’t equate to votes.

Along with the Trudeau government, he was swept away by voters who detested the prospect  of a wimpy Conservative leader becoming prime minister at a time when firm leadership was essential. The swing to a right-of-center Liberal leader resulted in him losing his seat and reducing the number of elected MPs to just 7.

Ironically he can be encouraged from the rise of socialism in that bastion of capitalism, America.

The number of elected politicians belonging to the Democratic Socialists of America is on the rise. Zohran Mamdani shocked the political world by toppling centrist Andrew Cuomo by becoming mayor of New York City.

That doesn’t automatically equate to a rise in support for the NDP in Canada. Socialism in America looks quite different from Canadian socialism.

Socialism in Canada has been part of mainstream politics since the 1930s when the NDP grew out of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). Now every Canadian political party accepts universal health care and social safety nets as a given.

However, the rise in American socialism could be a springboard for Lewis because many Canadians tune into American media.

In order to grow the NDP , Lewis could look to the younger progressive base. But that field is crowded with influencers and fringe groups.

It’s hard to get their attention. Almost all Canadians aged 18–29 use at least one social media platform and spend 2–4 hours per day on it, some considerably more. They get political news from social media, not reliable mainstream media.

They have other worries such as housing affordability and employment prospects.

Rather than politics, young Canadians are worried about body image and anxiety, depression and loneliness.

And they don’t show up at the polls.

Lewis needs to reduce targeting of young Canadians and appeal to those who vote. That means broadening its appeal to older and working-class voters.

Rather than simply retaining its current supporters, the most promising demographic is the 35-to 54-year-olds, especially middle-income Canadians concerned about affordability, housing, health care, and job security.

They vote in high numbers, many are open to policy-based appeals, and they are less firmly aligned with one party.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://closetproductions.ca/EyeView/eyeviewcover.htm