Lewis Faces Fossil Fuel Backlash, Unites NDP

0:00AB Lewis just snagged the NDP leadership on the first ballot, pulling in 39,734 votes out of 70,000. 930 valid ones cast on March 29th. That's a clear sweep over runner-up, Heather McPherson's 20,000 A299. But right out the gate, he's hitting rough waters with Alberta and Saskatchewan NDP leaders over his hard-line stance against fossil fuels. Fathers like Carla Beck and Saskatchewan and the Heed Nenshi in Alberta fired back quick. Beck won't even meet until he flips on energy, and Nenshi says. The feds are drifting away from Alberta's needs. This ties back to Lewis co-authoring the Leap Manifesto with his wife Naomi Klein, pushing to ditch fossil fuels, which the party back back in. 2016 Experts and party vets are watching tight, urging Lewis to tap wisdom from old guard like Jack Layden, who build the NDP into official opposition in. Under a decade, folks like former MP Matthew Dubay expect private chats to smooth tensions,

1:02stressing everyone's in the same boat, despite regional riffs. Lividaivies, now party BP, calls the pushback unpleasant, but trust Lewis to bridge gaps. His win likely rode a wave of new members. Party rolls jumped 67% to over 100,000 since the race kicked off in September. Some recognition from dad Steven and grandpa David Lewis, both NDP legends, plus fundraising muscle, gave him the edge over establishment picks. Expect those divides to cool as Lewis builds coalitions, blending fresh energy with party smarts, much like Layden sparked the orange wave, unities the play, and he's got the charisma to make it stick. This has been Canada News Today, powered by AI.