Avi Lewis and the gift of low expectations
Publisher's Point
Roderick Benns is the publisher of The Advocate. An award-winning author and journalist who grew up in Lindsay, he has written several books including Basic Income: How a Canadian Movement Could Change the World.
I heard Stephen Lewis speak in the early 2000s about community development.
As he tied his remarks to African social justice, his words were a glorious combination of velvet and thunder, a preacher’s approach with no religious coercion attached.
It was the best oratory I had ever witnessed; nothing has surpassed it since.
Avi Lewis, just 48 hours before his father’s death, won the leadership of the federal NDP.
A friend on the left side of the political spectrum is worried about the election of Lewis – that the new leader will drive the party into the ground, electorally speaking.
I said how much worse can it get? Your party has six seats!
He said, “zero seats!”
Conventional wisdom says the brash Lewis (who has already picked fights with previous NDP leaders like Tom Mulcair and provincial NDP leaders, like Naheed Nenshi) will affix a millstone to his party before the next election.
It’s easy to see why.
Lewis wants to leave our oil in the ground, muses about public grocery stores (take that, Galen Weston), public telecom providers, postal banking (I actually like this one), a public pharmaceutical manufacturer, more public housing construction, and cut back on military spending. It seems out of step with the times as we fortify against Donald Trump’s chaotic world order.
But when you show genuine personal conviction, which Lewis has in spades, a certain moral uprightness can shine through. And voters can sense that.
For a voter inclined to support movements that are rooted in worker power, public ownership, and climate justice, Lewis has more than a fighting chance to make his mark.
We have yet to see if he can play nice with others. But if he can reign in his worst impulses, there’s nothing wrong with being firm in his social democratic beliefs. In fact, it will be a differentiating strength.
I doubt Lewis, the son, will ever touch people the way his father did with soaring oratory. But if he has an ounce of his father’s integrity, people will notice. And voters will reward it.
Prediction? The NDP will be back to official party status next election.
