OTTAWA — New Democrat MPs say they will have “difficult discussions” in the coming weeks as the party begins searching for a new leader and a new direction after devastating election results.
“The situation that we’re in is a challenging situation with the NDP, there’s no denying it. I lost some really, really good members of Parliament, people who put their heart and soul into their community… and we lost them,” Jenny Kwan, one of seven elected New Democrats, told National Post.
“It’s heartbreaking to lose our good colleagues in that way. And so, so there will be hard conversations about all of that.”
On Monday, Canadians delivered a significant blow to the NDP and leader Jagmeet Singh, reducing the party to seven seats in the House of Commons. The party received barely over six per cent of the vote. In the 2021 election the NDP won 25 seats and 17.8 per cent of the vote.
The meagre caucus number means the NDP is set to lose party status in Parliament, cutting it off from significant resources and allocated speaking time in the House.
On the same night, Singh acknowledged the stinging message from voters as he announced his resignation.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed that we could not win more seats, but I’m not disappointed in our movement. I’m hopeful for our party,” Singh told supporters at an election night party in his Burnaby, B.C., riding.
As the party sets out to find a new leader, Kwan and Winnipeg NDP MP Leah Gazan told National Post that caucus and party membership will have “difficult discussions” in the coming week to figure out what went wrong.
But they have theories. Kwan said she frequently heard two reasons from voters as to why they wouldn’t support the NDP. The first was that party members felt betrayed by the NDP’s extended support for Justin Trudeau’s minority government. Singh signed a supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals to support them on confidence votes in exchange for two new social programs: dental care and national pharmacare. (Pharmacare has yet to roll out after stalling at the preliminary stage.)
“People felt that we should not have worked with the Liberal government in achieving those wins,” she said.
“There’s an element there where people felt the trust was breached.”
The second was fear of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of annexation and tariffs that pushed them towards either the Liberals or the Conservatives.
“People felt that we have to have one strong voice in going forward and standing up for Canada. So then, therefore, people voted with what they thought was the most strategic thing to do, as opposed to voting with their heart,” Kwan said. “I think that also cost us as well.”
Gazan also cited fear of the rise of “extremism” in the U.S. as a reason people shifted away from the NDP towards the Liberals and Conservatives.
Both Gazan and Kwan did not rule out running for either interim or permanent party leadership to help “rebuild the movement” but said they were focused on meeting with their caucus mates and party members first.
Several individuals have begun signalling they might consider a run for NDP leadership, including
former MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau
,
outgoing Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante
and NDP MP Heather McPherson.
Quebec MP and party stalwart Alexandre Boulerice is considered by many inside and out of the party as a leading contender for interim leadership. Boulerice did not respond to a request for comment.
But there’s no doubt for Gazan and Kwan that the task ahead is nothing less than a total rebuild of the movement.
“I was sad for many of my colleagues, but I wasn’t surprised with the outcome,” Gazan said. “I’m looking forward to getting through this difficult time and continuing to rebuild our movement.”
“We need to re-earn the trust of Canadians,” Kwan added.
When it comes to rebuilding a party, this isn’t Kwan’s first rodeo. In the 2001 B.C. election, Kwan — then with the provincial NDP — was one of only two candidates to survive the party’s collapse as the Liberals won a landslide victory.
“I’ve been down this path before, and that is the reality. I know what it is like to have to rebuild basically from the ground up, all the way from the beginning and to fight that fight,” Kwan said.
Asked if either of them would consider crossing the floor to the Liberals to help Mark Carney’s party form a majority government (it is four seats away), Gazan and Kwan said no.
“I am a New Democrat,” they both said in separate interviews.
National Post
cnardi@postmedia.com
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