NDP betting on these people and ridings to reverse its electoral fortunes

David Thurton · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 08, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The NDP has a database of battleground ridings wherever enactment insiders judge they are competitory and person a accidental to grow.

Although the enactment intends to tract candidates successful each 343 federal ridings during the 2025 election, section riding associations and the enactment person been moving for good implicit a twelvemonth to strategically spot candidates with a proven way grounds of getting elected.

An NDP nationalist run authoritative who CBC News is not naming because they were not authorized to talk publically said that, beyond holding connected to their existing seats, the NDP sees opportunities to marque gains successful Edmonton, the Halifax area, Montreal, Ottawa and the Greater Toronto Area.

The authoritative would not stock their implicit database of battleground ridings due to the fact that they did not privation to springiness different parties the precocious manus successful a national election, which the enactment believes could hap arsenic aboriginal arsenic March 10.

However, the NDP's battleground strategy includes an arsenal of candidates who person held elected bureau and are present moving federally.

As the root enactment it, "a past of winning elections surely is simply a large golden prima connected a candidate's record."

MPPs marque leap successful Ontario

In Ontario, the enactment has a trio of candidates moving from provincial authorities to the national arena.

"I person a estimation that radical cognize about," said Monique Taylor, who won the provincial territory of Hamilton Mountain 4 times.

Now she's hoping to unseat Liberal Lisa Hepfner and instrumentality Hamilton Mountain to New Democrats.

Another Queen's Park workfellow hopes to present a Liberal upset — again.

Former Ontario NDP MPP Joel Harden faces incumbent Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi successful the conflict for Ottawa Centre — a rematch aft Harden unseated Naqvi successful the 2018 provincial election.

Harden is moving this clip hoping not to repetition a benignant of authorities which astatine times, helium says, was a "little excessively fierce, a small excessively harsh … a small excessively closed-minded to the opinions of others."

"Sometimes the near tin beryllium inhospitable. Sometimes we tin beryllium beauteous sanctimonious and beauteous judgmental, and we request to beryllium reflective astir that and make a much welcoming place," Harden said.

Harden's erstwhile provincial colleague Bhutila Karpoche is besides warring to reclaim the Toronto battleground of renamed riding Taiaiako'n-Parkdale-High Park.

Karpoche said going to Parliament Hill is astir warring to support her assemblage from further gentrification and what she believes could beryllium a Conservative bulk government.

"We're going to request massive, monolithic efforts connected the broadside of people, connected the broadside of community, to marque definite that we bash not judge cuts to services," Karpoche said.

Nominating these candidates could beryllium a effect to the NDP's 2021 run debrief. Although the NDP entered the run with nary indebtedness and $24 cardinal successful the bank, it lone achieved a nett summation of 2 seats. It mislaid Hamilton Mountain and was unopen retired of Atlantic Canada, losing St. John's East successful Newfoundland.

The study highlights that the enactment faced a credibility spread and pressures from strategical voting. It besides received feedback that it dispersed itself excessively thin.

"The enactment should absorption connected incumbent and battleground ridings, alternatively than a afloat 338-candidate election," noted 1 conception of the report.

Outside Ontario, the NDP sees opportunities to reclaim seats mislaid successful erstwhile elections and reconstruct its foothold successful Eastern Canada.

The NDP run root said the enactment is eyeing the Northwest Territories, St John's East, Halifax and "ridings similar it."

Within the past fewer weeks, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been touring Montreal with what the enactment calls "star candidates." Hoping to grow the party's footprint successful Quebec beyond its 1 seat, Singh promised to walk a instrumentality that protects Quebec identity, earthy resources and its dairy, ovum and poultry markets.

The root says respective Montreal ridings could beryllium successful play.

While the enactment has its battleground list, the CBC Poll Tracker shows the NDP is struggling — connected way to triumph less seats than successful 2021.

It could suffer official party presumption if it doesn't elite much than 12 MPs.

The CBC Poll Tracker compiles and averages publically disposable sentiment polls of decided and leaning voters. The polls are weighted by respondents' property and illustration size, arsenic good arsenic by the polling firm's way grounds and past performance.

'I'm blessed to physique my ain machine'

Vancouver Centre is simply a riding that polls don't favour for the NDP. It's ne'er held the riding, but a notable sanction is attempting to alteration that.

Avi Lewis is challenging Liberal stalwart Hedy Fry, who has held the riding since she defeated Progressive Conservative Leader Kim Campbell.

Lewis is simply a erstwhile big connected Al Jazeera and CBC. His father, Stephen Lewis, led the Ontario New Democratic Party, and his grandfather, David Lewis, helped recovered the NDP successful 1961.

In an interrogation with CBC News, Lewis said helium is not getting the benignant of enactment from NDP office arsenic successful different high-profile ridings, but that's OK.

Lewis said helium is drafting upon his decades of acquisition moving successful television.

"I person resources and networks that I tin gully on, and I'm a middle-aged achromatic guy," Lewis said. "I spot it arsenic my accidental and work to enactment a caller riding into play … I'm blessed to physique my ain machine."

According to Lewis, his run has raised much than $100,000 and they are hoping to walk each of it earlier the writ play — erstwhile election-spending limitations footwear successful — so they tin "raise it again and walk it again."

Lewis said they are successful good signifier locally, not lone due to the fact that of the wealth successful the slope but besides due to the fact that of the squad of up to 350 volunteers who door-knock daily.

"We don't conscionable request to elite a representative. We request to travel unneurotic arsenic a community," Lewis said. "And that's the deeper work, and frankly, that's the overmuch much satisfying and soulful enactment of the predetermination process."