New NDP Leader Avi Lewis Holds First News Conference in Winnipeg

Avi Lewis stepped to the microphones in Winnipeg on the morning of March 30, a day after being elected the ninth leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party—and the first person to take the job without ever having held elected office. The documentary filmmaker and climate-justice organizer won decisively on the first ballot at the party’s convention at the RBC Convention Centre, taking 39,734 votes (56.02%) and defeating Edmonton MP Heather McPherson (20,899) and three other candidates. He succeeds interim leader Don Davies and former leader Jagmeet Singh, who resigned after the NDP’s 2025 election wipeout left the party with just six seats and no official status in the House of Commons.