NDP leadership candidates pitch their rebuilding plans in final debate
Global News
Four of the five candidates said they are running to rebuild the party, while Tony McQuail was the lone candidate who said he is eyeing the Prime Minister's Office.
The NDP leadership candidates began the final official debate with a general acknowledgment they agree on policies, but have different visions for how to achieve their most existential goal — rebuilding the party.
At the close of the debate, each candidate was asked if they are running to rebuild the party or become the prime minister. Four of the five candidates said they are running to rebuild the party, while Ontario organic farmer Tony McQuail was the lone candidate who said he is eyeing the Prime Minister’s Office.
During opening remarks in the Vancouver-area debate, Alberta MP Heather McPherson said the party needs someone who knows how to turn NDP policies and values into electoral wins. She said she has a track record of beating Conservatives in her home province and can expand that nationally.
Following the debate, she said that the NDP has always been the party of “big ideas” but to get them implemented you need get people elected.
“What we really need to do is look across the country and pick up seats where we have lost support, and I think we can do that,” McPherson said after the debate.
“I think there are many areas across the country where we have seen New Democrats are strong, where people actually thought they were electing — they were voting for something they didn’t get,” McPherson said after the debate, alluding to votes lost to the Liberals in 2025.
She then pointed to areas she sees as winnable for the NDP including Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver and southern Ontario.
Documentarian Avi Lewis said the same approaches seen in past elections will not work and the NDP needs to be putting forward big, bold ideas. He said this can be a winning strategy as his campaign has pulled in the most donations, nearly $780,000 as of Dec. 31, 2025, and is getting significant member support.
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