Much is being made of the western provincial NDP leaders’ lack of enthusiasm about the ascendance of Avi Lewis to lead the federal New Democrats. 

This is to be expected. But it would be a mistake to assume their disapproval is a sign that Lewis will not be able to breathe new life into the moribund party. The provincial and federal arms of the NDP have often had an uneasy relationship. Friction — particularly over natural resource development — is pretty much a given.

Lewis campaigned on no new deals for pipelines, offshore oil or liquefied natural gas projects. That platform doesn’t sit well with NDP leaders in fossil fuel-producing provinces like Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan. But this is nothing new. 

You may recall the nasty falling-out Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley had with her federal counterpart Jagmeet Singh — and her BC counterpart, John Horgan — over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which was unpopular in NDP ridings outside Alberta. Notley called Singh’s opposition to the project naive and went so far as to say, “I hope at some point in the future he will take a more mature approach to his leadership." Ouch.

Singh’s lack of appeal, though, may not have been due to the times he expressed strong and consistent stances, but rather the opposite. When the NDP held the balance of power, Singh was criticized for being too willing to prop up the Trudeau Liberals and for pushing the party too far to the centre. 

By choosing Lewis for leader, New Democrats have backed a popular combatant. He raised the most money of any of the leadership hopefuls, attracted new members and won a decisive first-ballot victory. There are NDP and even some disaffected Green voters out there — probably young and despairing about Canada’s lack of progress on income disparity and climate action — who find his ambition refreshing.

Policy-wise, he has much in common with the US Democratic Party’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a firebrand environmentalist who styles herself a democratic socialist and, like Lewis, believes a Green New Deal can spur economic development, move the dial on racial and economic justice and combat the greenhouse gas pollution that’s causing global heating. She is popular among younger, politically engaged voters who long for a leader and a party that puts the health and wellbeing of the planet and ordinary people above tech bros and corporate interests.

In recent years, AOC has changed her style and now works more comfortably within the system. Lewis isn’t there yet and may never be — he certainly presents himself as someone not for bending.

The same does not hold true for BC Premier David Eby who won by only the slimmest of margins and as premier of a fossil-fuel exporting province, has made his accommodations with the gas industry. He has centred his economic policy around LNG and mining plans, much to the dismay of his party’s climate wing. If he swore off oil and gas tomorrow, his party’s chances of a win in the next election would crumble. Ditto for Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi and Saskatchewan’s Carla Beck, both of whom are trying to win in provinces where the oil and gas industry is a major economic contributor. 

It’s harder to dump on the fossil fuel industry if your goal is to form government. With the NDP numbers so low, Lewis is not likely to face that problem any time soon.

All political leaders have an awareness of the compromises and tradeoffs needed to lead, and this must be as true of Lewis as anyone else. However, his list of non-negotiables is longer than most. Unwavering commitment to principles will win some supporters, but it will certainly lose others and Lewis may be hard pressed to build a big tent, if he even wants one. With Lewis at the helm, will there really be room for leadership rival Heather McPherson, the NDP’s only Alberta MP, who not surprisingly favours a much slower transition? There’s room for doubt that she can even win reelection under such a regime, let alone have a voice within the party. 

And will he come to be accepted by the trade union side of the party? Some of them view him as a member of the big city NDP elite that doesn’t understand the travails of ordinary working people. 

Lewis is third in a line of NDP leaders. His grandfather David helped found the party and served as leader from 1971 to 1975. His father Stephen Lewis was a former leader of the Ontario opposition NDP and was later appointed Canada’s ambassador to the UN. He was a passionate humanitarian and started a foundation to assist people in Africa affected by HIV/AIDs. He died Wednesday, two days after his son won the leadership race. Accolades are pouring in lauding his integrity. Former NDP MP Charlie Angus said, “He spoke from that moral root that we all have to be better.”

Avi has that same moral certainty. It resonates with those who agree with his views and rankles those who do not. His insistence that Canada must start winding down the oil and gas industry is not a politically popular view among most of Canada’s other leaders at this moment when a trade war with the US is pummeling our economy. But it is the right path to take and young voters know it. 

Lewis proved that when he organized a campaign for climate activist Anjali Appadurai that very nearly knocked Eby out of the BC NDP leadership race and would have landed Appadurai in the Premier’s office. He proved it again with his big win last weekend. As our federal government lists to the right, we need an aspirational conscience to push hard for a course correct. Avi Lewis is just the leader for that.

© National Observer