Lewis launched his campaign for the federal NDP leadership on Friday, September 19 virtually with a new website and a video announcement on several social media platforms.
“Life in Canada today feels on the edge. Everyone seeking just a little stability. Everyone told: you’re on your own,” Lewis said in the video. “It doesn’t help that we’re under economic attack. Disruption grenades flying over the border without warning. But there is an even bigger crisis. One that Donald Trump only magnifies. It is the everyday emergency of just trying to get by in an impossible economy.”
Lewis then listed off rising phone bills, rising grocery bills, and rising rent and laid the blame at the feet of corporate greed, aided and abetted by the Liberal and Conservative parties.
He also cited his own political heritage in the video. Lewis is the grandson of former NDP leader David Lewis.
“In the 1970s, my grandfather David Lewis, one of the founders of the NDP, said it well: ‘Government and big business both hold hands in your pocket.’ His generation refused to accept a rotten deal. They won public healthcare, pensions, the whole social safety net that used to catch people when the economy tumbled. That’s the tradition of struggle I was raised in,” he said.
His father, Stephen Lewis, led the Ontario NDP from 1970 to 1978.
Lewis further cited his credentials as a journalist where he feels he has a solid record of holding political leaders accountable and covering the labour movement.
Lewis also, notably, announced his candidacy in both official languages in a shorter French video released the same day.
READ MORE: New Democrats must recognize that they will need a bilingual leader
Focus on climate and affordability
The ongoing climate crisis and rising cost of living seem to be an early focus for Lewis’ campaign as he put forward promises in his campaign launch video aimed at those two issues.
Firstly, Lewis expressed his support for a national cap on rent increases as well as “a public option for food and groceries.”
Lewis also expressed support for a so-called “Green New Deal” which he said would “create millions of good paying jobs.”
He also promised to further expand the public health system to ensure that it covers medication and mental health.
These promises he implied would be covered by a tax on the wealthy.
The three minute, 36 second video may be sparse on the finer details of how Lewis would achieve the goals he’s laid out, but does give a window into his and his team’s strategy at the start of this leadership race.
Lewis previously ran as a candidate for the federal NDP in the recent 2025 election, coming in third in the riding of Vancouver Centre behind Liberal Hedy Fry and Conservative Elaine Allan.
While not the first candidate to enter the race, he is the first candidate to be provisionally approved by the party’s leadership vote committee.
READ MORE: NDP leadership campaign begins to take shape; official kickoff Sept. 2
In July, Montreal-based writer and activist Yves Engler announced his candidacy for the leadership. Earlier this week, Engler announced that he had received $55,000 in donations which will go towards covering the $100,00 entry fee for the race. Engler has been endorsed for the leadership by the NDP Socialist Caucus.
Tony Quail, a former candidate for the NDP at the federal and provincial level in the Ontario riding of Bruce-Huron had also announced his candidacy in June.
On October 22 the NDP will be holding a candidates forum in Ottawa, the first official event of the leadership race.
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