Sarah Mills: Does this Canada Day feel different due to 'elbows up' attitude?
Does Canada Day feel different this year? Sarah Mills says we should be cheering harder for Canada than ever due to our ...
OTTAWA — B.C. MP Don Davies will be the interim leader for the New Democratic Party of Canada, chosen by the party’s national council Monday evening.
Former leader Jagmeet Singh announced his resignation after he lost his own Burnaby Central seat in the April 28 election.
Davies led the NDP negotiations with the Liberal government to advance dental care and pharmacare legislation while serving as the party’s health critic, then finance critic, in the last session of Parliament.
The NDP caucus met twice last week to talk about the party’s leadership situation, which helped inform the national council’s decision Monday.
The NDP lost official party status last week when it was reduced to seven seats in the House of Commons. The last time that happened was after the 1993 election, when the NDP was reduced to nine seats; the NDP regained official party status in the 1997 election, when they won 21 seats.
The NDP hold three seats in British Columbia, one in Alberta, one in Manitoba, one in Quebec and the sole seat for Nunavut.
A party official told The Canadian Press that the rules and timing for a leadership contest will be determined at a later date.
Davies held his seat in Vancouver Kingsway with a slim margin, defeating Liberal challenger Amy Gill by 303 votes.
Davies picked up several endorsements outside traditional NDP supports during the election campaign, including former federal Liberal justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Kevin Vickers, the former sergeant-at-arms for the House of Commons.
Former MP Charlie Angus says the party lost touch with core supporters and focused too much on the personality of the leader.
The Alberta NDP voted overwhelmingly on the weekend in favour of allowing members to opt out of mandatory membership in the federal party when signing up at the provincial level.
— With files from Catherine Morrison in Ottawa and Lisa Johnson in Edmonton.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2025.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
