OTTAWA — Filmmaker and journalist Avi Lewis officially announced he is running for NDP leader in a video shared on social media Friday morning.
Alberta NDP MP Heather McPherson is now listed as a registered leadership candidate with Elections Canada. She has not yet officially announced her intention to run and her spokesperson declined an interview request.
Lewis talks about the high cost of living in his video, linking high cell and food costs to a small number of companies owning most telecommunication firms and grocery chains.
He also blames the spread of wildfires on successive Liberal and Conservative governments failing to limit emissions from fossil fuels.
McPherson has represented the riding of Edmonton Strathcona since 2019. The NDP has held that riding since 2008.
As the party’s foreign affairs critic, she has pressed the government over its response the war in Gaza and its plans for recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Since the NDP was reduced to just seven seats in the spring federal election, McPherson has been travelling the country and speaking with New Democrats about how the party can rebuild.
Lewis ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the NDP in the 2021 and 2025 elections in two Vancouver-area ridings.
His grandfather David Lewis was a founding member and former leader of the federal NDP, while his father Stephen Lewis led the Ontario NDP.
Lewis is one of the co-authors of the Leap Manifesto, a 2015 document that outlined 15 policy points aimed at steering Canada away from fossil fuels.
Jagmeet Singh resigned as leader after losing his own Vancouver-area seat in the April election. B.C. NDP MP Don Davies is currently serving as interim leader.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
