CBC News reports that NDP Leader Avi Lewis will not seek a seat in any of the federal byelections expected later this year. In a statement, the party said Lewis’s focus “for now” 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.” Lewis has remained seatless since winning the leadership in March, while the NDP caucus has shrunk to five MPs.
One seat Lewis could have contested is the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York, which opened when former Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith stepped away from federal politics. The NDP last won the riding in 2011 under Jack Layton; it has been Liberal since 2015. Polls analyst Éric Grenier called a run there a “risky move,” noting Erskine-Smith took nearly 70 per cent of the vote in 2025 and that a loss “this early on in his leadership would be a bit of a blow.” Grenier pointed to the April University-Rosedale byelection, where the NDP passed the Conservatives but finished “well behind,” as evidence the party still has “a long ways to go.”
House staring down 7 byelections
Seven seats are expected to open across the country. Alongside Beaches-East York, four are in Quebec, one in B.C. and one in Saskatchewan. Former NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice is leaving his now-Independent Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie seat — the last NDP riding east of Manitoba — to run provincially for Québec Solidaire. Liberal Jonathan Wilkinson vacated his Vancouver seat to become ambassador to the EU, and Steven Guilbeault plans to give up Laurier-Sainte-Marie over the summer. Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay left the Bloc to run for the Parti Québécois. Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Conservative Richard Martel to the Senate, vacating Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, and Conservative Cathay Wagantall will resign Yorkton-Melville on Aug. 31.
Liberals well positioned for byelections: analyst
Grenier said the vacancies will do little to dent the Liberal majority — “the majority will actually get one seat bigger once all these vacancies happen” — and that the party is unlikely to lose the three seats it held in the spring, with possible gains in the competitive Quebec ridings last held by Boulerice and Martel. Five would-be candidates have entered the Liberal nomination race in Beaches-East York, including John Tory Jr., son of the former Toronto mayor.
Correction (Jul 09, 2026): A previous version incorrectly stated Nathaniel Erskine-Smith ran for the Ontario Liberal nomination in Beaches-East York; he ran for the provincial nomination in Scarborough Southwest.