New Democratic Party leadership election, 2003
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The 2003 New Democratic Party leadership election was held to replace
New Democratic Party of Canada The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * th ...
leader
Alexa McDonough Alexa Ann McDonough ( Shaw; August 11, 1944 – January 15, 2022) was a Canadian politician who became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Nova Scotia, when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's (NSN ...
, after her retirement. It ended on January 25, 2003, with the first ballot victory of popular Toronto city councillor Jack Layton. The election was the first to be conducted under the NDP's new partial
one member, one vote In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders, and determining party policy, by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives ...
system, in which the popular vote of the members is weighted for 75% of the result. The rest are votes cast by delegates for affiliated organizations (mainly labour unions). It was also the first Canadian leadership convention to allow Internet voting; delegates who chose to vote electronically were given a password to a secure website to register their votes. The race was heated, with the leaders campaigning to NDP audiences across Canada. One of the most notable events of the campaign occurred at the convention in Toronto, the day before the election, when candidate Pierre Ducasse made a stirring speech. Ducasse's speech attracted widespread praise, although its late delivery was unable to sway the postal and internet votes which had already been cast.


Candidates


Jack Layton

At the time of the election, Jack Layton was the Toronto City Councillor for Ward 30 and vice chair of
Toronto Hydro Toronto Hydro Corporation is an electric utility that operates the electricity distribution system for the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As of 2018, it serves approximately 772,000 customers and delivers approximately 19% of the electricity c ...
, and a former university lecturer and environmental consultant. He had run and lost in both the
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
and 1997 federal elections. His emphases included homelessness, affordable housing, opposing violence, the natural environment and the green economy. While other campaigns stressed federal experience, Layton's campaign contended that his record on Toronto council and as former president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities encompassed national issues and would transfer to the federal stage, and that as Alexa McDonough had on her election as leader, he could lead the party successfully from outside Parliament until winning his own seat. *Endorsements: Ed Broadbent, Svend Robinson,
Libby Davies Libby Davies (born February 27, 1953) is a Canadian politician from British Columbia. She was the member of Parliament for Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015, House Leader for the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011, and Deputy Leader ...
, former Ontario NDP leader
Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of those years as leade ...
*Date campaign launched: July 22, 2002


Bill Blaikie

At the time of the election, Bill Blaikie was the MP for Winnipeg-Transcona, the NDP House leader and the critic on intergovernmental affairs, justice, the Solicitor General, and parliamentary reform. He had been a Member of Parliament for over 20 years. His emphases included trade, Medicare, taxes and the environment, and his parliamentary experience. An ordained minister in the United Church of Canada, Blaikie was a prominent heir to the
Social Gospel The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean envir ...
,
Christian left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...
tradition deeply rooted in the NDP. *Endorsements: MPs Wendy Lill, Judy Wasylycia-Leis,
Pat Martin Patrick D. "Pat" Martin (born December 13, 1955, in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015, representing the riding of Winnipeg Centre for the New Democratic Party. Ca ...
,
Bev Desjarlais Beverly Faye Desjarlais (née Nowoselsky; August 19, 1955 – March 15, 2018) was a Canadian politician. She represented Churchill in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2006, initially as a New Democrat New Democrats, also know ...
,
Dick Proctor Dick Proctor (born February 12, 1941 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian political activist, former New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament, and a former journalist. Career Politics Proctor has been active with the NDP in a number of ...
and
Yvon Godin Yvon Godin (born May 12, 1955) is a Canadian politician. Godin was a New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Acadie—Bathurst from 1997 until his retirement in 2015. P ...
, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, Ontario New Democratic Party leader Howard Hampton and several former MPs *Date campaign launched: June 17, 2002


Lorne Nystrom

Lorne Nystrom was the MP for
Regina—Qu'Appelle Regina–Qu'Appelle (formerly Qu'Appelle) is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1968 and since 1988. Geography The district includes the northeastern qu ...
at the time of the election, and the NDP critic of economic policy, finance, banks, national revenue, public accounts, Crown corporations and electoral reform. Through his 29 years in Parliament, it was the third time he had run for leader. Nystrom campaigned heavily on the issue of electoral reform. Other emphases included his parliamentary experience and practical left-wing economics; he had edited a book on financial issues, ''Just Making Change''. *Date campaign launched: July 31, 2002


Joe Comartin

Joe Comartin Joseph John Comartin (born December 26, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. Comartin joined the New Democratic Party in 1969 and represented the party in the House of Commons of Canada from 2000 to 2015. He is currently consul general of C ...
was the MP for Windsor—St. Clair and the party's environment critic at the time of the election. His election in 2000 had been the first federal win for the NDP in Ontario in ten years, and he had helped add a second Ontario seat with
Brian Masse Brian S. Masse (born July 9, 1968) is a Canadians, Canadian politician. He has served in the House of Commons of Canada since 2002, representing the electoral district (Canada), riding of Windsor West as a member of the New Democratic Party. ...
's win in the neighbouring riding of
Windsor West Windsor West (french: Windsor-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography The district consists of the part of the city of Windsor lying west an ...
in 2002. He emphasised foreign affairs, particularly in the Middle East, and his campaign included significant outreach to Arab and
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Canadians. Comartin received high profile support from the Canadian Auto Workers. Comartin was considered the furthest left candidate besides Bev Meslo. *Endorsements: MP
Brian Masse Brian S. Masse (born July 9, 1968) is a Canadians, Canadian politician. He has served in the House of Commons of Canada since 2002, representing the electoral district (Canada), riding of Windsor West as a member of the New Democratic Party. ...
, CAW President Buzz Hargrove, CAW Local 444 President Ken Lewenza, former aide to Howard Hampton and publisher
Ish Theilheimer ''Straight Goods'' was a Canadian online news magazine, usually publishing about twenty new stories every week. Publisher Ish Theilheimer founded it in 1999, with the support of about thirty shareholders. Its first edition went online in January ...
*Date campaign launched: August 13, 2002


Pierre Ducasse

Pierre Ducasse was the Associate President of the NDP at the time of the election. His underdog campaign stressed outreach in Quebec and building the party toward electoral success. It also drew on Ducasse's background in co-operative economics. *Endorsements: Ken Georgetti, president of the
Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (french: Congrès du travail du Canada, link=no or ) is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was ...


Bev Meslo

Bev Meslo was a Vancouver-area activist and represented the
New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus The New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus is an unofficial left-wing faction within Canada's New Democratic Party. Its manifesto maintains that the New Democratic Party has moved too far to the right, and is in danger of becoming indistinguishable ...
in the leadership election.


Results

NOTES: The labour votes at convention were weighted to equal 1/3 of the total membership votes cast (43,652 / 3 = 14,550.67). This was done to ensure that labour held 25% of the total votes cast for Leader, as required by the NDP Constitution. As a result, the vote of each labour delegate was equal to approximately 15.2 membership votes. Campaign contributions were those reported on the interim financial statements, as of November 30, 2002.


Timeline


2002

*June 5: Alexa McDonough announces she will step down as leader. *June 17: Bill Blaikie declares his candidacy. *July 5–7: The
NDP Federal Council NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Deve ...
convenes to adopt rules. *June 25: Pierre Ducasse declares his candidacy. *July 22: Jack Layton declares his candidacy. *July 30: Bev Meslo declares her candidacy. *July 31: Lorne Nystrom declares his candidacy. *August 13: Joe Comartin declares his candidacy. *November 26: Final day for candidates to declare candidacy. *December 12: Last day to become an NDP member who can vote.


2003

*January 24: The convention begins in Toronto, Ontario. *January 25: Ballots are cast, Layton declared victorious.


Notes

{{NDP
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
New Democratic Party leadership election