Who is Avi Lewis?
Born in Toronto in 1967, Avi Lewis comes from an NDP family: his father is Stephen Lewis, a former Ontario NDP leader, and his grandfather David Lewis led the federal party. He hosted television programmes for MuchMusic, then CBC, then Al Jazeera English, and in 2015 directed This Changes Everything, a climate documentary. He also helped launch the Leap Manifesto that year, a platform on climate and the economy. Two runs for the NDP in British Columbia, one in 2021 and one in 2025, did not result in a seat. The 2025 election left the NDP with seven seats, Jagmeet Singh resigned, and Don Davies served as interim leader. Lewis succeeded him, taking about 56 percent on the first ballot of the vote held 29 March 2026. No elected office has ever been his.
Previously: NDP candidate for Vancouver Centre (2025) · NDP candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country (2021) · Co-author of the Leap Manifesto (2015) · Broadcaster and documentary filmmaker (1996-2015)
Documented positions
- Would create postal banking, public telecom providers, a publicly owned maker of pharmaceuticals and a grocery option run by the public sector.Source: lewisisleader.ca
- Would set up a public builder with a five-year goal of one million homes, all of them social, co-op or non-profit, and impose a national limit on rent hikes.Source: lewisisleader.ca
- Wants a wealth tax starting at 1 percent for the richest 1 percent and reaching 3 percent for the very largest fortunes, with an inheritance tax on estates above 5 million dollars and capital gains taxed in the way wages are.Source: lewisisleader.ca
- Backs higher income supports and a framework, set nationally, for a livable guaranteed basic income.Source: lewisisleader.ca
- Under his Green New Deal, Ottawa would refuse fresh federal approvals for pipelines and for LNG terminals or offshore oil, while 2 percent of GDP went to climate action.Source: lewisisleader.ca
- While campaigning for the leadership, urged a moratorium on new AI data centres, with jobs, privacy and the environment as his stated concerns.Source: lewisisleader.ca
- His answer to US tariffs is a levy on oil and gas sold to the United States, together with a windfall tax aimed at fossil fuel firms.Source: lewisisleader.ca
- Has said that a voice opposing the Gaza and Iran wars is something Parliament needs.Source: cp24.com
Record
Lewis has held no public office, so no such record exists. Not long after he took over, the NDP in Alberta and Saskatchewan distanced themselves. Carla Beck, who leads the Saskatchewan party, said that a meeting was possible if he reversed his fossil fuel policies. Naheed Nenshi, Alberta's leader, said Alberta's interests were not served by the federal direction. Lewis replied that the party can accommodate differences of opinion. He passed on a 2026 by-election in Quebec, and on later ones, explaining that rebuilding the party was his focus. Liberal MPs Anthony Housefather and Ben Carr criticised a September 2026 Yom Kippur post of his, where he wrote: "we failed to do our part to stop an ongoing genocide" and that it was "committed in our name". Lewis stated that he did not blame Jews for what the Israeli government does.
In his favour, supporters note how clearly he won the leadership, and his emphasis on climate and the cost of living. Critics point to his fossil fuel position and the party's small caucus.
