Pontius: Federal NDP leader Avi Lewis was in Regina on Friday to meet with local supporters and go door-knocking. Lewis says the goal is to go door-to-door with voters and reconnect the federal NDP with working-class people who feel left behind by rising costs, and that his base in Saskatchewan is energized.
Lewis: The momentum at our base, our grassroots, are really electrified after the leadership race. We have hundreds of volunteers here. We signed up thousands of new members in Saskatchewan during the leadership race, raised a ton of money in every single riding.
Pontius: The big question hanging over Lewis’s visit is whether he and Beck have spoken.
Lewis: I think whenever there’s a new leader, there’s a kind of a settling-in period. Carla sent that letter. We all know about that. But, like, days later she reached out to me. We had a very constructive call. She really wanted me to read her “Grid and Growth” energy plan, which I did. There’s lots of stuff I agree with in there. There’s some differences we still have.
Pontius: Lewis went on to say they have a connection as NDPers whose priority is fighting for the blue-collar workers who aren’t getting their fair shake. Political analyst Ken Coates says Lewis has a lot of work to do to earn a seat in Saskatchewan.
Coates: It is not a popular sell in Canada right now. So when Avi Lewis comes to Saskatchewan, he’s test-running essentially his platform for how he can sort of get Canadians back on board. And that is not going to be an easy task.
Pontius: Carla Beck will not meet with Avi Lewis during his stop in Saskatchewan, with Beck instead choosing to focus on challenging the Sask Party’s plan to extend coal power for another 25 years. Lewis’s next stop will be in Saskatoon on Saturday, and is expected to be wrapping up the tour in Prince Albert on Sunday. Kevin Pontius, Global News.