Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck is distancing her party from newly elected federal NDP leader Avi Lewis, saying she will not meet with him unless he changes his stance on natural resource development.
Lewis won the federal leadership in a decisive victory at the party’s convention in Winnipeg.
The new federal leader has proposed a major transition away from fossil fuels, including a Green New Deal‑style plan that calls for spending two per cent of Canada’s GDP on sustainable jobs, providing heat pumps and expanding electrified public transit.
He also opposes any new fossil‑fuel development.
In a letter obtained by CTV News, Beck described Lewis’s positions as “ideological and unrealistic,” saying they would hurt workers, communities and entire industries in Saskatchewan.
She points to Lewis’s past comments opposing new fossil fuel development, including liquified natural gas (LNG), and says he repeated those views in recent interviews.
Beck writes that 40,000 direct and indirect jobs in Saskatchewan depend on natural resource development, along with billions of dollars in annual economic activity.
She says Lewis’s approach targets not just the sector itself, but the people who work in it.
“Entire communities in Saskatchewan rely on these sectors. The policies and positions you have advocated for put at risk $13.6 billion in economic activity annually in Saskatchewan,” Beck wrote.
She also argues Lewis’s positions go against the values of a party built for working people and do not reflect his self-described focus on affordability.
Beck says the Saskatchewan NDP’s Grid & Growth Plan aims to diversify industries, lower emissions and keep costs down for families.
“The positions that you have expressed publicly in this leadership race, and in your prior interactions with the New Democratic Party, are antithetical to the values of a party built with and for working people. You have repeatedly claimed you’re laser-focused on affordability; however, the policy positions you have taken don’t reflect that,” the letter read.
Lewis has faced criticism during the leadership race for his past climate‑activism work, including the Leap Manifesto, which caused friction with the Alberta NDP a decade ago.
“When you publicly reverse your position on these matters and show a willingness to try to understand the realities of our province and the thousands of proud Saskatchewan workers who rely on our industries to feed their families, I will meet with you,” Beck concluded in the letter.
