NDP Leader Avi Lewis rules out running in upcoming byelections

Voters in 7 ridings expected to elect new MPs later this year

Man gesturing with his hand as he speaks into a microphone. — Avi Lewis became the NDP’s leader in March after the party suffered a historic electoral loss last year. Since then, Lewis’s caucus in the House of Commons has shrunk to five MPs. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press)

NDP Leader Avi Lewis will not run for a seat in any upcoming federal byelections.

“For now, his focus is on rebuilding the party, in keeping with discussions with the NDP caucus and elected officers, as well as the overwhelming mandate given to him by members to revive the party and prepare it for the next election,” the party told CBC News in a statement.

Since winning the NDP leadership race in March, Lewis has remained seatless as the federal party faces the difficult task of rebuilding from its historic low of five MPs in Parliament.

As of now, seven MPs from across the country have either vacated their seats or signalled they won’t be returning to Ottawa in the fall.

One seat Lewis could have run for is the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York, once fertile ground for New Democrats.

The NDP last won Beaches-East York in the 2011 federal election, when they formed Official Opposition under Jack Layton. That seat, and Layton’s long-held neighbouring Toronto-Danforth riding, were both won by the Liberals in 2015 and have been held by the party since then.

‘You gotta run’: Ex-MP says NDP Leader Avi Lewis should be in Parliament

While NDP Leader Avi Lewis has said he’s in no rush to try to win a seat in the House of Commons, former New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said the new leader needs to show he can win: ‘I know that there’s few opportunities, but people are voting for a leader in the House, so I think the leader should be in the House.’

Polls analyst Éric Grenier said running in the vacant Toronto riding would have been a “risky move” for Lewis.

“To lose a seat this early on in his leadership would be a bit of a blow,” Grenier said.

Beaches-East York opened up as former Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith officially stepped away from federal politics on Wednesday.

Grenier said the seat was one of the safest for the Liberals in the last election and wouldn’t be an easy flip for the NDP. Erskine-Smith eclipsed the other candidates with nearly 70 per cent of the vote.

“I think the NDP still has a long ways to go before they can challenge for this seat,” Grenier said. “We saw in [the April] byelection in University-Rosedale that they were able to pass the Conservatives, but they’re still well behind.”

Erskine-Smith twice tried to lead the Ontario Liberal Party since his election under the Trudeau Liberals.

Earlier this year, he fell short of the Ontario Liberal nomination in the provincial riding of Beaches-East York by just 19 votes. He launched an appeal alleging voting irregularities that was rejected by a party arbitration committee.

House staring down 7 byelections

Aside from Beaches-East York, there are four seats expected to be up for grabs in Quebec, one in B.C. and one in Saskatchewan.

Former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is stepping away from his now Independent seat in the Montreal riding of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie to run provincially for Québec Solidaire.

The seat was the last NDP riding east of Manitoba.

On the government side, Liberal Jonathan Wilkinson left his Vancouver seat to become Canada’s ambassador to the European Union. And former environment minister Steven Guilbeault said he would give up his Montreal seat of Laurier-Sainte-Marie over the summer.

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay also left the Bloc Québécois to run provincially with the Parti Québécois in the fall.

Prime Minister Mark Carney recently appointed Conservative Richard Martel to the Senate , vacating his seat in the Quebec riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord. And Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall said she will officially resign her Saskatchewan seat of Yorkton-Melville on Aug. 31.

Liberals well positioned for byelections: analyst

Although three Liberal MPs are vacating their seats, Grenier said that will do little to affect their majority status in the House.

“If everybody who says they’re going to resign or has resigned goes ahead and does that by the end of the summer, the government will be down three Liberals and the opposition will be down four members,” Grenier said.

“The majority will actually get one seat bigger once all these vacancies happen.”

Lawyer, former chief of staff Claire Seaborn seeking Liberal nomination in Beaches-East York
Former MPP bows out of Ontario Liberal leadership before official launch

According to Grenier, the Liberals aren’t likely to lose the three seats they held in the spring, and could even add to their count in two competitive Quebec ridings last held by Boulerice and Martel.

“For these byelections, it’s all upside for the Liberals,” Grenier said.

Five would-be candidates have already put their names in to compete for the Liberal nomination in Beaches-East York: son of former Toronto mayor John Tory, John Tory Jr., as well as Claire Seaborn, Summer Nudel, Arthur Potts and Tanveer Shahnawaz.

The Liberal Party told CBC News in a statement that no date has yet been set for a nomination meeting in Beaches-East York. — David Cummings