NDP lags rivals in candidate nominations
With 30 named, federal party trails Greens
OTTAWA • As Canada’s political parties prepare for this year’s federal election, the federal New Democrats lag far behind their rivals in the number of candidates they have nominated, trailing even the Green Party.
The NDP currently has just 30 nominated candidates, 20 of whom are incumbent MPs. The Green Party, meanwhile, has 33 nominated candidates to date, with their lone MP, leader Elizabeth May, planning to run again. The Liberals and Conservatives, in contrast, have nominated 165 and 198 candidates respectively. The vast majority of the Liberal candidates — all but eight — are incumbents, while 86 of the Conservative candidates are sitting MPs.
The NDP has been trying to find its footing since voting to oust former leader Thomas Mulcair in April 2016, triggering an extended leadership campaign during which some say the party machinery was left to atrophy. Since Jagmeet Singh was chosen as leader in October 2017, it has struggled to rebuild. “Candidate recruitment often gives us a peek into electoral readiness of a party,” Farouk Karim, a former NDP press secretary, told the National Post. “There is no doubt that the NDP has to shift gear and close the gap with the other parties.”
But Karl Bélanger, former national director of the NDP, said it’s unsurprising that the party is behind in nominating candidates, since its focus now is on an upcoming byelection in Burnaby South, where Singh hopes to win a seat in the House of Commons.
“I think a lot of potential candidates … are waiting to see what’s going to happen in the byelection on Feb. 25,” Bélanger told the Post. “Once Jagmeet has a seat in the House, you put an end to some of the uncertainty the NDP is facing. … Once that’s done, I think it is easier to put the team together.”
However, Mulcair suggested on CTV’s Question Period last weekend that the NDP could lose progressive votes to the Greens, implying that Singh has offered mixed messages on the environment. The Green Party has also made recent strides at the provincial level. Polls suggest the Greens could form government during this year’s election in Prince Edward Island, and the party recently won three seats in the New Brunswick legislature, up from just one. The Green Party currently holds the balance of power in British Columbia, where the NDP formed a minority government in 2017, and Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner won the party’s first seat in the provincial legislature last year. Federally, the Green Party just had its best-ever fundraising year outside of an election year, taking in $3.1 million in 2018. The NDP raised just $5.2 million, compared to $16.6 million for the Liberals and $24.3 million for the Conservatives.
Aside from the 20 NDP MPs already nominated, another seven have signalled their intention to run again, including House leader Ruth Ellen Brosseau, one of the party’s bright lights in Quebec.
But of the 44 NDP MPs elected in 2015, at least 10 will not run under the party’s banner this year, including six who say they
ONCE JAGMEET HAS A SEAT IN THE HOUSE, YOU PUT AN END TO SOME OF THE UNCERTAINTY THE NDP IS FACING. … ONCE THAT’S DONE, I THINK IT IS EASIER TO PUT THE TEAM TOGETHER.
— KARL BéLANGER, FORMER NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE NDP
THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE NDP HAS TO SHIFT GEAR, CLOSE THE GAP.
don’t plan to run again, three who’ve resigned their seats, including Mulcair, and one — Erin Weir — who was expelled from caucus following a harassment investigation.
The remaining seven, including party heavyweights like B.C.’s Nathan Cullen and several members of the Quebec caucus, have yet to announce whether they’ll run again, with several saying they’re waiting to make a decision until after the outcome of the Feb. 25 byelection Singh is contesting.
In a statement to the Post, the party said it has several more nomination meetings planned over the next few months. “The nomination process is following its course as planned with many interesting candidates having expressed their intention to run for the NDP,” the statement said. “We are confident that we will put together a remarkable slate of candidates everywhere across the country.”
To date, the Bloc Québécois has just one nominated candidate, but all 10 of its caucus members plan to run again. The People’s Party of Canada, led by Maxime Bernier, has not yet chosen any candidates for the general election aside from Bernier himself.