NDP Leader Lewis Wont Seek Seat in Upcoming Byelections

NDP Leader Avi Lewis speaks with reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 17, 2026. The Canadian Press/Adrian WyldNDP Leader Avi Lewis will not run in any of the seven upcoming federal byelections, the party says, and will instead focus on rebuilding the party after its losses in the last election.Lewis won the NDP leadership in March but has been without a seat in Parliament since. The NDP currently has its smallest caucus in party history, with just five MPs.“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 NDP said in a statement provided to the CBC.Seven federal ridings are set to hold byelections after their MPs either vacated their seats or announced they will not return to Parliament this fall.Former Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith officially vacated his Beaches-East York seat on July 8.  The NDP had won the Toronto riding in 2011 under late leader Jack Layton. Since 2015, both Beaches-East York and Layton’s former riding of Toronto-Danforth have been held exclusively by the Liberals. In addition to the Beaches-East York riding, four seats in Quebec, one in B.C., and one in Saskatchewan are also expected to become vacant, triggering byelections.This includes former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice, who is stepping down from his riding of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie in Montreal to run provincially for Québec Solidaire. Boulerice’s seat was the NDP’s last seat anywhere east of Manitoba.In addition, Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson has vacated his Vancouver riding to serve as Canada’s ambassador to the European Union, while former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has announced he will resign his seat in Montreal’s Laurier-Sainte-Marie, and Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay left federal politics to run provincially for the Parti Québécois.Conservative MP Richard Martel’s Quebec riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord was also left vacant after Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed him to the Senate on July 8. Meanwhile, Tory MP Cathay Wagantall has announced she will resign her Yorkton-Melville seat in Saskatchewan on Aug. 31.If all the resignations take place as announced, the Liberals will lose three seats, while opposition parties will lose four.So far, five individuals have announced they are running for the Liberal nomination for Beaches-East York. The date for the riding’s nomination meeting has yet to be announced.