The Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi New Democratic Party (NDP) riding association sent a small group of delegates to Winnipeg for the party’s national convention at the end of March, where journalist and activist Avi Lewis was elected as the party’s new leader.
Among the delegates was Wakefield resident Toby Sanger, co-manager of Gilbert Whiteduck’s campaign in the 2025 federal election. Whiteduck won five per cent of votes cast in this riding, down from 11 per cent won by the riding’s NDP candidate in 2021.
In total, last year’s election saw the NDP win only seven seats in the House of Commons, down from the 24 it had prior to the election, and less than the 12 needed to secure official party status.
THE EQUITY spoke with Sanger after his return from the convention to better understand why he believes Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi residents should be paying attention to the NDP in this moment, and what he believes is needed to rebuild support for the party in this riding.
“There was tremendous positive energy at the NDP convention. Lewis won decisively and with the support of a lot of younger votes, many of whom haven’t been involved in electoral politics before,” Sanger said. “They are revitalizing the party with a lot of great energy and a new way of doing politics.”
From a policy perspective, Sanger said he believes Lewis is focused on making positive material changes in all Canadians’ lives.
“There’s a lot in his priorities that involve increasing people’s well being in a whole number of different areas,” he said.
Sanger said core to Lewis’s campaign was his vision for tackling the affordability crisis, making groceries, child care, long-term care, and post-secondary education more affordable, improving benefits for low-income people, strengthening labour rights, [ . . . ] and “building our patchwork of [social] assistance into a basic guaranteed income.”
He pointed to Lewis’ proposal for publicly owned grocery stores and telecom providers as examples of how to make key services more affordable and break up corporate monopolies. To pay for these and other social policies, Lewis would increase taxes for corporations and billionaires.
Sanger said Lewis’s emphasis on growing the party by strengthening riding associations across the country was attractive to him.
“The best way to reach people is to focus and campaign on key issues of concern to people, and not just by campaigning for an empty political brand or leader – especially because we’ve seen how those leaders can change their stripes or positions,” Sanger said.
“I personally get put off by the whole cult of the leader, because politics is a team sport. I think it’s more important to focus on the team and/or the issues than the leader, and I think that’s part of what the riding association here is interested in doing.”
In a post-election interview with THE EQUITY last May, Whiteduck shared a similar philosophy.
“I knew I was tied to a banner, but it was me that was running [ . . . ] I was bringing my experience, I was bringing my teachings as an Algonquin person. [ . . . ] I wanted to bring a civil approach to debates, that it’s not about you as an individual but rather the interest of all citizens,” he said. “It’s not only about the leader. It can’t be. It’s about you. What are you going to do?”
Sanger said Lewis’s campaign reminded him of the importance of having fun while trying to make the world a better place.
“Because if you can’t make yourself happier while doing it, you’re not doing a very good job. Avi’s campaign events were like this: they had musicians, comedians and a lot of good positive energy.”
Winning 56 per cent of the votes, Lewis brought in almost twice the support as runner up MP Heather McPherson. As Lewis does not have a seat in the House of Commons, he has named McPherson to be House Leader.
