MP Heather McPherson launches NDP leadership bid

OTTAWA — Heather McPherson kicked off her campaign for the leadership of the federal NDP in Edmonton on Sunday.

In a speech, the Alberta MP said the NDP has always been inspired by “big ideas” like universal health care, and “we need to get back to that.”

McPherson called for the NDP to be more inclusive, saying the party should “stop shrinking into some sort of purity test.”

“We need to stop pushing people away and we need to invite people in,” she said. “We need to have more people at the table and we need to listen to them.”

McPherson, who is her party’s foreign affairs critic, has represented the riding of Edmonton Strathcona since 2019.

She said the NDP doesn’t need to change what it believes, but “how we talk about it and who we talk to. The key to building a winning campaign, it’s in communities. It’s not in … back rooms in Ottawa.”

McPherson said there is a need for a strong NDP fighting for good jobs, affordable homes, and health care, adding that votes for the NDP are votes for pharmacare, dental care and labour and worker protections.

McPherson also took a shot at Prime Minister Mark Carney, calling him a conservative prime minister in a Liberal jersey.

She pledged to make the NDP “a viable choice again.”

The NDP will select its next leader at a convention in Winnipeg in March.

Former leader Jagmeet Singh resigned following the loss of his own seat in the April election, when the NDP was reduced to seven seats and lost official party status. B.C. MP Don Davies is currently serving as interim leader.

McPherson will face off against filmmaker and journalist Avi Lewis, who officially announced his candidacy earlier this month.

In her speech, she warned the next election could be held as early as this spring, and said the NDP “needs a leader that is ready now, ready to hold the government accountable in the House of Commons, ready to organize and campaign across this country.”

— With files from David Baxter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2025.