As leadership campaigns continue for Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), prospective leaders must remember the dire need for working class advocacy in our ever-polarizing political landscape.
After the NDP lost official party status in the most recent federal election — seeing an 11.5 per cent decline in their share of the popular vote and merely filling seven seats — it is clear that the party is not resonating with Canadian voters like they have in the past.
Many NDP voters cited the 2022 Supply and Confidence Agreement (SACA) with Trudeau’s Liberal government as a decision that weakened their support for the party.
The agreement, which ended prematurely in late 2024, outlined that the NDP must support Liberal budgeting decisions and that they could not move nor vote in favour of a non-confidence motion against Trudeau’s Liberal government. In exchange for their support, the NDP saw their concerns prioritized in Parliament, bringing replacement worker legislation, increased sick days for federal workers and pushing forth the Sustainable Jobs Act.
Though impactful progress did come from the Liberal-NDP alliance, it also nullified the party’s criticisms of Trudeau’s Liberal government. Despite the fact that former party leader Jagmeet Singh and the NDP remained outwardly critical of Trudeau, the alliance ensured support for the Liberals, tying the parties too closely to see meaningful action appear at the Parliamentary level.
Following the major losses faced by the NDP in the 2025 federal election, Jagmeet Singh stepped down as leader of the party as the NDP works to solidify a public image that resonates with Canadian voters.
One of the most damaging parts of the SACA debacle is that, in tying the NDP to the Liberal Party, they became tied also to the corporate elite, placing them closer to the centre of the political spectrum than on the left where they originated.
At its conception in 1961, the NDP was formed by labour unions and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation to advocate for the working class on the Parliamentary level. As a democratic socialist party, the NDP held values of social equality and expressed critiques of capitalism.
Though I believe that the NDP’s democratic socialist roots would benefit society at large, the working class is the group facing the biggest hit following the loss of a worker-centred party in Canada.
As long as the NDP stays in the comfort of centrism and refuses to dive back into their socialist roots, the party will remain on unsteady footing.
The Conservative Party has noticed that the working-class demographic is up-for-grabs and have acted accordingly to push for voter support — despite the fact that the party does not actually support the working class legislatively.
Through populism, fearmongering and encouraging polarization, the Conservative Party attempted to frame themselves as the new advocate for working-class Canadians. After many orange districts flipped to blue in this year’s election, it is clear that the Conservative Party evidently appealed to many former NDP voters and pulled them across the political spectrum — somewhat deceptively, but nevertheless meaningfully.
Looking across the border, the American working class is in a similar position. President Donald Trump resonated with many American working-class voters — which plays out similarly to the Canadian Conservative Party’s appeal to the working class, as former presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ politics are somewhat comparable to the centrism of the Liberal Party, though arguably she sits further right.
However, the NDP should consider the recent successes of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, whose commitment to the democratic socialist approach has deeply resonated with voters in a similar cost-of-living crisis.
It is hopeful to see that three of the NDP leadership candidates, namely Rob Ashton, Avi Lewis and Tony McQuail, list heavy involvement with union activism as experience that makes them fit to bring the NDP into a new era of leadership.
Other candidates Tanille Johnston and Heather McPherson also seem to take a similar approach to politics, sharing experiences of humanitarian work and a commitment to make Canada more affordable.
Regardless of who is chosen to lead the NDP in a new direction, it is critical that they lead the party towards the working class. The NDP can no longer remain subservient to the Liberal Party. If the NDP continues to criticize the Liberal government, it would be hypocritical to remain closer to the centre than towards the left on the political spectrum.
Both the NDP and working-class voters themselves are in dire need of stability. If the NDP wants to make a real impact on Canadians, they must return to their democratic socialist roots and show up for the working class in ways that the Liberals and Conservatives never will.