Bill Sundhu (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

NDP Leadership

‘Build it from the foundation’; Sundhu believes federal NDP are positioned well to capture centre-left voters

Mar 31, 2026 | 4:43 PM

KAMLOOPS — In the last federal election, the New Democrats won just seven seats in parliament, losing official party status. That number has already been trimmed further to six, thanks to a floor-crosser to the governing Liberals. That is the monumental challenge in front of new NDP leader Avi Lewis, as he takes over the reigns of a party with it’s lowest seat count in history.

A party that rose to official opposition under Jack Layton in 2011, has seen its seats in Ottawa decline ever since, falling outside of party status in 2025 and looking to rebuild.

“It’s sort of like when your house burns down, you do get to build it from the foundation up,” said longtime NDP member and former federal candidate Bill Sundhu. “And this is a process of rebuilding the party, complete renewal, looking at what the party stands for, how it wants to go forward. What are the needs of Canada and how can it connect with Canadians? And I believe that is a positive thing.”

Sundhu voted for Lewis at the convention over the weekend. He strongly believes Lewis is the right man for the job.

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“Right now in Canada, we have – I would say – two conservative parties. The Conservative Party, today’s version, is not the one of Diefenbaker and Mulroney. It’s moved further to the right, even with elements of MAGA. And Mark Carney has moved the Liberal Party to the centre-right, so there is a vacuum in the centre-left,” said Sundhu.

Throughout much of their history, the NDP have been a viable third option for voters who lean to the left, a political stature they will need to regain ahead of the next election.

“If you are looking for different options other than Carney or Poilievre, Lewis could be that third option and they are going to have to strengthen that message and convince people they are ready for it,” said TRU Associate Professor Robert Hanlon. “But also, not only that they have big ideas, but how they can actually implement them, operationalize them and turn them into reality.”

Lewis has stated the goal of creating a ‘big tent’ party on the left of the political spectrum.

“That means the small business sector – which is overwhelmingly the business in Canada – it means workers, it means entrepreneurs, it means researchers and families, young people, new Canadians, Indigenous peoples. And that is the responsibility of governance to hear the voices of all segments of our society,” added Sundhu.

Sundhu believes with a by-election forthcoming, Carney will soon get his Liberal majority, giving Lewis time to prepare for the next election.

“We are seeing in Europe and around the world, social-democratic governments are being elected,” said Sundhu. “And that is a message that says, ‘We leave no one behind.’ That the economy as it’s structured with the market isn’t meeting people’s needs and human needs.”