The NDP’s flashy new ads, portraying Jagmeet Singh as a fighter, seem to be borne of an alternate universe. The latest polls aren’t just flashing red — they’re signalling a collapse that could cost the party its official status — Ipsos? 10 per cent. Angus Reid nine per cent. Leger? 11 per cent.
It doesn’t matter which poll you look at. And evidently, it doesn’t matter which Canadian voter the pollsters ask. The federal NDP are on the brink of utter disaster.
While all eyes have been on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to resuscitate the Liberal party, it’s the other major shift — the collapse of the NDP vote — that will ultimately determine the final outcome of the next federal election. More than that, it reveals with absolute clarity what this election will be fought over.
First, let’s be clear about what this downward spiral represents.
For Liberals, it’s Christmas come early. For Conservatives, it’s a worrying sign that progressive voters are consolidating behind Carney. For the NDP? It’s not just a repudiation of their leader, a rejection of their messaging, or even a reflection of voter frustration. Most critically, it is an indictment of their strategy.
In any other context, for any other party, these numbers should serve as a dire wake-up call. What I fear instead is that it will become an excuse factory — none more damaging than the idea that their eventual downfall will be merely the result of strategic voting by “fake progressives” who were never serious about the NDP’s agenda to begin with.
That’s only half-true. Yes, the NDP are victims of the moment. But more accurately: they are victims of their own failure to build a credible political strategy to meet this moment.
There will be a strong temptation within NDP circles to blame ideological divides within the party — that they should have tacked further left, or that they should have abandoned their progressive principles and moved closer to the centre.
That would be missing the forest for the trees at a time when the entire woodland is on fire.
This isn’t about factional divides in progressive politics.
This isn’t even about the party wearing the stain of propping up the Liberals for years, despite Trudeau’s declining popularity.
This is about a fundamental failure to grasp the ballot question of this election: who is best suited to protect Canadians from Donald Trump?
Because guess what? There will be nothing left to be progressive about if Trump’s influence dominates Canada’s economy, trade, and security.
What the NDP still fails to see is that, for voters of all stripes, this election isn’t about theoretical progressive ideals — it’s about safeguarding the progressive policies that Canada already has, policies that could disappear overnight if Trump makes good on his threats.
At this point, the party’s strategy appears depressingly predictable.
While they are reportedly planning to run a full slate of 343 candidates, their real plan is a retreat: consolidating resources into defending the ridings they already hold and making limited plays for a narrow band of additional seats.
In other words, it will be a thinly veiled furniture-saving exercise.
Meanwhile, voters will be focused on who is best to save the country.
So, here’s the bottom line. This election isn’t about finding the best incremental policy on housing or pharmacare — it’s about who is best suited for the leadership required in an unprecedented moment of global and economic volatility.
That should be Jagmeet Singh’s sole focus.
It should be every leader’s sole focus.
Any failure to recognize this reality and prosecute a strategy that meets the urgency of the moment is not just a political misstep — it is an act of outright political suicide and an unconscionable own goal.