Does Avi Lewis want to be the federal NDP leader - or leader of the federal Greens?
It's a question federal New Democratic Party members should be asking - because there are lots of signs Avi Lewis is actually campaigning to be Green Party leader - or turn the NDP into another Green Party.
We've seen this movie before, when Avi Lewis, partner Naomi Klein and others dragged a Trojan Horse called the Leap Manifesto inside the walls of the NDP - and nearly destroyed the party.
That's why - before the federal NDP holds its leadership vote and balloting starts March 9 through March 28 - candidate Avi Lewis should answer these 5 very hard questions about his allegiance to the NDP and his intentions if elected leader:
1) Why did Avi Lewis appear to endorse BC Green Party leadership candidate Emily Lowan, now Green leader?
Why did Avi Lewis appear to endorse Emily Lowan, the new leader of the British Columbia Green Party, in this video on her "Emily Lowan for BC Greens Leader" Facebook page? In this still from the video - still online - Avi Lewis is clearly part of the cheering crowd, on the centre left of the photo, with Lowan in the middle, in a sea of Greens.
Lowan has repeatedly slammed the BC NDP as "right-wing" despite the government facing a hostile and truly extreme right-wing BC Conservative party and a critical business community who feel they are too "left-wing" - and are calling for a slash and burn approach to the programs, services and the jobs of public sector workers.
So why would Avi Lewis be endorsing Emily Lowan as a leadership candidate for a party opposing the BC NDP electorally and trashing them publicly?
As federal NDP leader, how can Avi Lewis work cooperatively with Premier David Eby - or Manitoba NDP Premier Wab Kinew - or Alberta NDP Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi or all the other provincial and territorial NDP leaders - when he actively supported a Green candidate for the leadership of a party that opposes the NDP federally and in every province?
2). Why has Avi Lewis given a central, starring role in his federal NDP leadership campaign to Anjali Appadurai, who was disqualified from running for the BC NDP leadership for breaking the rules?
“The CEO’s overriding concerns resulting from this investigation are that the integrity of the membership list is tainted by fraudulent signups and that Ms. Appadurai and her campaign did not display the honesty or candour in responding to the allegations that they would expect of a leadership contestant.”
Cull found in her report that two environmental organizations - Dogwood and 350.org - had improperly encouraged individuals to join the BC NDP to support Appadurai's campaign. As a result, the Party disqualified Appadurai.
One of the key pieces of evidence was a Zoom call attended by over 100 people, including key Dogwood staff, at which a plan was formulated to have Dogwood and other environmental organizations campaign to sign up BC NDP members.
And who was apparently the chair and cheerleader at that critical meeting? Avi Lewis!
As the BC NDP investigation notes:
Avi Lewis, who appeared to chair or lead the discussion responded: “I’m excited to have folks from organizations bringing the power of their organizations.”
Mr. Lewis later stated more specifically: "I'm going to propose a test. If we're serious if we came here ready to work we should be able to sign up 1000 new members in the next 36 hours. Let's give ourselves 36 hours and see if we can sell 1000 memberships in the next 36 hours."
Lewis later added: "Is everyone clear on that? How to sell memberships in the short term, how to get people to forward the membership confirmation to that email address anjaliforbc@gmail.com. Good. Okay."
For the record, Appadurai, Lewis, Dogwood and 350.org all disagreed with Cull's report but clearly it was sufficient for the provincial executive to disqualify Appadurai.
Later, in 2025, would-be BC NDP leader Appadurai endorsed none other than Emily Lowan for leadership of the provincial Green Party!
Apparently Appadurai's loyalty to the BC NDP she wanted to lead does not run very deep, but she is still a major player in the Avi Lewis campaign.
3) Why is Avi Lewis courting and promoting endorsements from key environmental activists who support the provincial and federal Green Party and regularly denounce the BC NDP government of both David Eby and the late former Premier John Horgan?
A quick look at Avi Lewis' campaign endorsement page shows prominent environmentalists urging NDP members to vote for him.
David Suzuki is the most well-known - and also well-known for endorsing the BC Green Party in the 2024 provincial election - not the BC NDP. As the Green Party wrote:
"In a letter to supporters of the BC Greens Canadian icon science broadcaster and environmentalist David Suzuki endorsed leader Sonia Furstenau and the party for the Oct. 19, 2024 provincial election: 'All the science indicates we have created a terribly polluted world that is massively depleted of biodiversity. If the kind world we leave to our children and grandchildren is our highest concern we must indicate that by voting Green.'
Furstenau thanked Suzuki saying: 'For decades Canadians have looked to David Suzuki for knowledge guidance and wisdom. He is a deeply trusted figure in our country and I am deeply grateful for the trust he places in me and the BC Greens.'”
Also endorsing Avi Lewis is Tzeporah Berman, International Programs Director for environmental group Stand.earth. Berman has repeatedly appeared to support and then denounce the BC NDP - for not following her directions on a variety of issues, including forestry and the carbon tax.
Once again, Berman said on Instagram that she had voted for David Eby and the BC NDP in the October 2024 provincial election because of what the BC Conservatives would do to the environment.
But by 2025 her story had once again changed:
“I have received requests to join the BC Greens for 30 years. I am joining now because I wholeheartedly support Emily Lowan as the next leader of the Party. I know Emily will be a fierce and compassionate advocate for climate ambition and work to keep us safe."
So again, why is Avi Lewis promoting an endorsement from Berman, an environmental activist who publicly supported the new Green Party leader who opposes the BC NDP government and who ripped up an agreement between the two parties for stability and progressive policies?
Also endorsing Avi Lewis is Bill McKibben, the American founder of 350.org and a supporter of Anjali Appadurai's candidacy for BC NDP leader against David Eby. McKibben also supported Lewis in his unsuccessful run for the federal NDP in 2021 in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea-To-Sky.
4). Why has Avi Lewis - who wants to lead the federal New Democratic Party - only made 5 donations to the NDP since 2016? And most of those to his own two unsuccessful campaigns to be a Member of Parliament.
The Elections Canada records are clear - Avi Lewis supports himself as a federal NDP candidate - and not much else!
Shouldn't a would-be party leader put his money where his mouth is other than when he is running to be an MP? Why so few donations to the NDP he wants to lead?
5) The Leap Manifesto - why did Avi Lewis and friends pull this Trojan Horse inside the federal NDP in 2016 - and in doing so attempt to change it into the Green Party in all but name?
The Leap Manifesto was put together by Avi Lewis, his partner Naomi Klein and a host of other hard environmental and far left activists and sprung on the federal NDP and then-Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley as a proposal to effectively make it into another Green Party.
Among those involved in organizing and promoting the Leap Manifesto were some of the names above, including 350.org and David Suzuki and his Foundation.
The Leap Manifesto was used with glee by the NDP's opponents both federally and provincially to bash the party - which never adopted it. For example, in Saskatchewan, the right-wing Saskatchewan Party cited it 53 times in their Legislature between 2016 and 2020, using it as a hammer to keep the provincial NDP from electoral success.
Alberta Premier Notley was very clear in rejecting the Leap Manifesto, saying that: "These ideas will never form any part of our policy. They are naive, they are ill-informed, and they are tone-deaf."
Then BC NDP Opposition Leader John Horgan was equally clear in denouncing the Leap Manifesto: "In total collectively it doesn't reflect the values of British Columbians. Our past and our future will be dependent on the development of natural resources."
At the time it came out, I wrote in The Tyee that the Leap Manifesto was a "Trojan Horse" being pulled inside the walls of the New Democratic Party - and should be rejected.
Regrettably, the NDP didn't follow my advice then - and I was correct. In the following 2019 federal election, the NDP lost 15 seats, dropping to 24 from 39 under new leader Jagmeet Singh.
Overall, the Leap Manifesto really did split the New Democratic Party for a time, until it was shelved.
But it definitely helped end the term of then-NDP leader Tom Mulcair - who was voted out at the 2016 NDP convention in Alberta - which saw 52% of delegates vote to hold a leadership review, ending Mulcair's tenure.
Avi Lewis was less than convincing in interviews that the Leap Manifesto was at all realistic and costed, telling Macleans magazine in 2016 that:
"Q: But people would like to know what all this is going to cost. Is there a price tag?
A: No. It’s an aspirational high-level document that attempts to tell a story about where we are in history and what we need to do next. The next stage is to develop that granular policy approach and the coalition of social groups behind this document would like to get there.
It’s not designed to be a budget. It wasn’t written by economists. But we know the money is there."
Right.
In conclusion, Avi Lewis seems to be continuing his Leap Manifesto dream 10 years later, hoping this time to win the NDP leadership and transform the party into a radical Green Party of the left.
It's up to the democratic decision of federal New Democratic Party members to decide if Avi Lewis should lead the party down this road to ruin.
But those of us who understand what's at stake for Canada's social democratic party, and how Avi Lewis could lead it into a deep abyss that will take years to climb out of afterwards, should call it out now - tell NDP members that electing Lewis will be an electoral disaster.
I for one cannot stay quiet in the face of a potential looming collapse of the NDP if Avi Lewis is eleted leader, an NDP that I have supported all my life, worked and campaigned for federally and provincially, donated to, and strongly hoped would one day become a progressive government in Canada.
I have supported and campaigned for every federal NDP leader since Ed Broadbent and every BC NDP leader since Dave Barrett - without exception.
But despite that, I know and expect criticism from many of Avi Lewis' supporters and perhaps others. I can anticipate what will be said against me.
But I will not sit quietly by and watch Avi Lewis turn the NDP into a hopelessly unelectable shell of a party that also drags down provincial NDP governments and oppositions across Canada.
The decision is up to the members - think about what you read here and make a choice you and your conscience can live with.
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