NDP candidate pushes strategic vote as Singh says Canada needs New Democrats

OTTAWA — NDP candidate Peter Julian is calling for strategic voting in his Vancouver-area riding and party leader Jagmeet Singh is raising no concerns about the practice — which is often maligned by New Democrats.

In a Sunday social media post, Julian said “the Conservatives are counting on a split vote” to win his riding and “if you normally vote Liberal or Green, consider lending me your vote this election.”

The NDP has in the past attacked strategic voting, which tends to encourage New Democrat supporters opposed to the Conservatives to park their votes with Liberal candidates.

Singh would not say Monday whether he opposes strategic voting.

“I want people to be very thoughtful about the way they vote,” he said.

“For a lot of folks, they’re worried about Conservatives getting in. And for those folks, re-electing your New Democrat MP is a great way to stop that from happening.”

NDP candidates and MPs have spoken out repeatedly against strategic voting, arguing that the Liberals too often pressure NDP supporters to vote Liberal to prevent a split that could see a Conservative win.

The issue was a major driver of former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to introduce electoral reform, which his government later abandoned.

Nanaimo, B.C. NDP candidate Lisa Marie Barron told a Monday news conference that while polling in the 2021 election suggested the Conservatives would win, it didn’t match what she was hearing at the doors.

“All the polls said that I was going to lose it,” she said. “I ended up winning last election. So this election, the same thing is happening … there’s tons of support out there.”

The NDP won 13 of B.C.’s 43 seats in the 2021 federal election. Still, current polls suggest those incumbent New Democrats may be vulnerable this time.

Angus Reid polling released on Monday puts the Liberals in the lead with 44 per cent of voter intention in B.C. and the Conservatives at 38 per cent, sliding five points from the previous week’s poll. The NDP stand at 14 per cent, up three points, with the Greens at just three per cent.

In Metro Vancouver, the Liberals under leader Mark Carney are in front with 49 per cent of voter intention, with the Conservatives at 27 per cent and NDP at 21 per cent.

The Angus Reid polling was conducted online between April 10 and 13. Because the poll was conducted online, it can’t be assigned a margin of error.

Angus Reid Institute president Shachi Kurl said that with the Liberals polling well in Ontario and Quebec, the Conservatives will need to succeed in B.C. if they hope to form government after April 28.

“For the Conservatives, the path to victory has to be delivered through B.C., and for the NDP, (it’s about) holding on to dignity and/or party status,” Kurl said.

Singh was in Nanaimo on Monday to re-announce the party’s platform commitment to expanding federal pharmacare to include essential medications within a year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press