Members of Canada’s New Democratic Party are meeting this weekend to choose a new party leader, with a decision slated for Sunday. And for the first time since the 1970s, a Jewish candidate has a strong chance of being elected.

Avi Lewis could follow in the footsteps of his late grandfather David Lewis, who led the NDP shortly after Avi was born. David Lewis remains the first Jewish Canadian in history to lead a national political party. (Annamie Paul led the Greens from 2020-2021)

But a lot has changed since his grandfather's reign. The NDP was decimated in the 2025 election, winning only seven seats and losing official party status. As they hope to rebuild and expand their coalition, some party members are worried about the younger Lewis’s criticism of Israel and his anti-Zionist beliefs; he is a member of the anti-Zionist organization Independent Jewish Voices Canada and his roster of prominent endorsers includes many activists with similar views.

Lewis’s closest rival is widely seen as Heather McPherson, the NDP MP for Edmonton Strathcona. She’s not Jewish, but holds similar sentiments about Israel. She has supported seven petitions against the Israeli government, wore a Keffiyeh in the House of Commons during a vote on Palestinian statehood, and wants Canada to investigate anyone who ever served in the Israeli army.

The CJN reached out multiple times to Lewis’s camp for an interview, but they declined.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, NDP insider and The CJN Political Panelist Noah Tepperman joins host Ellin Bessner to explain why he believes both front-runners are problematic for the country—but why Avi Lewis is much worse for Jewish Canadians.

Jewish former broadcaster Avi Lewis widely seen as the front-runner, but concerns are being raised about his strong anti-Zionist views.

Tags: #Canada politics, #NDP, #Avi Lewis, #Heather McPherson, #Jewish Canadians, #Israel, #antisemitism, #cdnpoli

Related links

Read how the two leading NDP leadership candidates criticized the current U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, when the attack began Feb. 28, in The CJN .
Learn more about the five candidates on the NDP’s leadership convention’s website.
Hear The CJN’s Political Panel’s early prediction about the NDP leadership race, on “North Star” with Ellin Bessner , from Jan. 2026.

Credits

Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
Music: Bret Higgins

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