NDP hopes to turn fundraising, membership gains into more votes this election

The provincial New Democratic Party is hoping a recent jump in fundraising and membership numbers will translate to more votes on Oct. 21.

The party, which garnered under two per cent of the vote in 2020, and five per cent in 2018, hasn't secured a seat in New Brunswick's legislature since 2003.

There are 23 candidates on the ballot this year, down from 33 in the last election.

But NDP Leader Alex White said other metrics have been on the rise since he took on the interim role in 2022 and became leader in summer 2023.

"Things like declining membership, declining fundraising, things like that," White said in an interview. "The losses haven't just been stemmed, they've been reversed, that's what we've come around to."

It's a trend he hopes the party can translate into a greater vote share on election day.

But that's still a lofty goal for the party, which has spent the past decade wrestling with identity and with its leadership holding considerably different political positions.

The Cardy factor

Danny Legere, president of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour and the NDP's Federation of Labour representative, said it's been an uphill battle since 2017 to re-establish support on the political left.

That's when Dominic Cardy, who steered the party toward the political centre, resigned as leader. He was later elected as a Progressive Conservative MLA, and also served as a cabinet minister under Blaine Higgs.

Legere said a considerable number of NDP supporters were driven away by Cardy's approach, largely to the benefit of the Green Party — seen as an alternate option for those on the progressive left.

"We were kind of at the bottom of the hill, we had to start to climb back up," Legere said. "I think the party presently in New Brunswick, and labour's involvement in the party as well, is starting to climb back up that hill."

Dominic Cardy, pictured in 2014, took the provincial NDP in a different direction as party leader. (Nicolas Steinbach/Radio-Canada)

But Cardy contends the party was more successful under his direction, while agreeing his leadership wasn't to everyone's taste.

"Less than half of the full slate, no public support, no organization. When I was there, we had full slates in 2010, 2014, and we got up to 30 per cent in the polls," he said. "So I think the results, in terms of elections, speak for themselves."

Cardy received 30 per cent of the vote in his riding in 2014, while the NDP overall took 13 per cent — a historic high that the party has yet to surpass.

White, however, doesn't see a gain in vote share under different values as success for the NDP.

"I'm sure a party was doing better under Dominic Cardy, but it wasn't a progressive party in this province."

White believes the party's concerted effort since 2017 to return to its labour roots will pay off at the polls.

"I would love to have a vote share that is significantly higher than what we had in the last election," he said.

"We have to look at what momentum that we've built through this election and how we can carry it forward."

White said the NDP platform looks to address cost-of-living issues by redirecting corporate relief to individuals.

The platform, costed at $100 million, also proposes to spend $471.9 million on a grocery rebate, and raise income tax rates for those making $150,000 per year to add $371 million to the public purse.