Avi Lewis | |
|---|---|
 Lewis in 2025 | |
| Born | Avram David Lewis May 1967 (age 58) |
| Alma mater | University College, Toronto |
| Occupations |
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| Political party | New Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1[1] |
| Parents | |
| Family | Lewis |
| Website | lewisforleader |
Avram David "Avi"Lewis (born May 1967) is a Canadian politician, journalist, and activist.
Raised in apolitical family, Lewis began his career in broadcasting, hosting several programs forCitytv,CBC News andAl Jazeera English includingThe NewMusic,CounterSpin, On the Map with Avi Lewis,The Big Picture with Avi Lewis, andFault Lines. With his wifeNaomi Klein, Lewis directed the documentariesThe Take andThis Changes Everything. Along with Klein and several other activists, Lewis launched theLeap Manifesto in 2015. Lewis is an associate professor at theUniversity of British Columbia and was previously a lecturer atRutgers University.
A member of theNew Democratic Party (NDP), he was a candidate in the2021 and2025 federal elections, losing both times. He is a candidate in the party's2026 leadership election.
Avram David Lewis was born in May 1967[2] inToronto, Ontario, where he was raised. Lewis is the great-grandson ofMoishe Lewis, an outspoken member of theJewish Bund who leftSvislach, Poland, after being interrogated by the Russians and threatened with death or thegulag for his political activity. Moishe left forMontreal in 1921, with his wife Rose and three children. His grandfatherDavid Lewis was theleader of the NDP from 1971 to 1975, and his fatherStephen Lewis was the leader of theOntario NDP from 1970 to 1978 and served as theCanadian ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. His mother is journalist and authorMichele Landsberg. Lewis has two siblings: casting directorJenny Lewis and Ilana Landsberg Lewis.[3]
Lewis attendedJarvis Collegiate Institute andUpper Canada College, graduating with aBachelor of Arts fromUniversity College at theUniversity of Toronto in 1988.[4][5]
Between 1996 and 1998, Lewis was the host ofThe NewMusic, a music magazine show onMuchMusic andCitytv. He also served as MuchMusic's political specialist, doing extensive special events coverage for the channel, covering the1993 Canadian federal election and the1995 Quebec referendum.[6] Lewis won aGemini Award for Best Event Coverage.[7]
From 1998 to 2001, he hostedCBC Newsworld's current affairs discussion showCounterSpin, where he presided over 500 debates. He was later the host ofCounterspin Sunday. Lewis began hostingThe Big Picture with Avi Lewis in the autumn of 2006 andOn the Map in 2007. In the latter program, Lewis conducted interviews withAyaan Hirsi Ali andJohn Bolton, among others.[8][9] He was a panellist onCanada Reads, which aired from March 2 to 6, 2009, where he presented, and successfully defended, the winning book,Lawrence Hill'sThe Book of Negroes.[10]
In June 2007, CBC Newsworld debutedOn the Map with Avi Lewis, a daily (Monday to Thursday) half-hour of international news commentary.On the Map's half-hour time slot was replaced with a half-hour summary of the daily hour-long showPolitics byDon Newman.[11] During the same time period onCBC Television,The Hour, hosted byGeorge Stroumboulopoulos aired.[12][13][14]
Inside USA was first telecast onAl Jazeera English on February 8, 2008, with the episode "Politics of Race". Al Jazeera describesInside USA as "an in-depth look at the real issues at stake in theUS presidential election."[15] "Politics Of Race", released on February 22, 2008, focused on the situation in New Orleans and the disenfranchisement of Black voters.[16][17] "Native Americans", released on March 1, 2008, focused onLakota Siouxseparatism and the social and economic issues surrounding the Lakota Sioux,Navajo and theShoshone peoples.[18][19] The last few minutes were devoted to the role online videos play in US elections, including a clip from "Yes We Can".
Following the presidential election, Lewis became a co-host ofFault Lines in 2009, a program known for investigative storytelling examining the United States and its role in the world.[20]
In 2004, Lewis and his wifeNaomi Klein collaborated onThe Take, a documentary that detailed the "recovered factory" movement inArgentina.The Take, winner of the International Jury Prize at theAmerican Film Institute festival, was nominated for four Gemini Awards. Collaboration between Lewis, Klein, and Brendan Martin led to the creation of The Working World/La Bas foundation,[21] anon-profitmicrocredit aimed atcooperatives active in the United States and Argentina.[21]
From October 8 to 18, 2007, Lewis hosted the ten-part international documentary seriesWhy Democracy? in Canada.[22]
Lewis directed the 2015 feature-length documentaryThis Changes Everything,[23] which finished second in the audience voting, for the documentary category, at the2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[24]
With his organization, The Leap, Lewis co-wrote a short film titledA Message from the Future withAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019. It was nominated for Outstanding News Analysis: Editorial and Opinion at the41st News and Documentary Emmy Awards. A sequel, titledMessage from the Future II: The Years of Repair was also co-written by Lewis and was released in 2020 byThe Intercept.[25][26][27][28]
He was a journalism and media studies lecturer atRutgers University inNew Jersey and is currently an associate professor in the geography department of theUniversity of British Columbia, where he teaches courses on social and political change, communication and documentary filmmaking.[29][30]
He is a contributor to news sites includingThe Breach.[31][32]
In September 2015, Lewis, Naomi Klein, and others launched theLeap Manifesto, which proposed broad changes to Canadian society and economics in order to respond toclimate change through a policy framework that also addressed issues of wealth and income inequality, racism, and colonialism in hopes of influencing the policy debate during the2015 Canadian federal election campaign.[33][34] In 2016, Lewis spearheaded a motion at the NDP's federal election which would have had the party endorse the manifesto. In the end, the motion was amended to refer the manifesto to constituency associations for debate. Lewis and other manifesto signatories launched an organization to promote the manifesto's vision in 2017, called The Leap, which operated until 2021 and was a key convenor of Canada's Pact for aGreen New Deal in 2019.[35]
An active member of the NDP, he was speculated as a potential candidate in the2017 leadership election, but declined to run.[36] Lewis supports shifting the NDP further to the left,[37] endorsing and campaigning for several progressive candidates in internal NDP elections, such asAnjali Appadurai in the2022 BC NDP leadership election.[38]
In May 2021, Lewis was nominated as the NDP's candidate forWest Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country,British Columbia for the2021 Canadian federal election,[39][40] which was subsequently called for September 20, 2021.[41] Lewis' run for federal parliament was endorsed by environmentalistDavid Suzuki,[42][43] actressJane Fonda,[43][44] playwrightEve Ensler,[45] folk singer and activistBilly Bragg,[46] and biologistAlexandra Morton.[47] He received 25.63% of the vote, the NDP's best result in the riding, but still came in third behind incumbentLiberalPatrick Weiler andConservativeJohn Weston.[48] In September 2024, Lewis was acclaimed as the NDP candidate inVancouver Centre for the2025 Canadian federal election, he placed third, behind incumbent LiberalHedy Fry and Conservative Elaine Allan, as the NDP lost the majority of its seats in the House of Commons and official party status.[49]
Lewis is a candidate in the2026 NDP leadership election. He launched his campaign on September 19, 2025, being the first candidate approved to run. He held his campaign launch inToronto.[50] His policies include establishing a CanadianGreen New Deal, supportingPalestinian rights, creating a "public option" for groceries, building public housing, implementing a moratorium onAI data centre contruction[51], and expanding healthcare access.[52][53] By the end of December 2025, his campaign claimed that it had raised nearly $783,000.[54] By the end of January 2026, it was reported that his campaign had raised over $1,000,000.[55] During the campaign period, Lewis was endorsed by current and former MPsLibby Davies,Leah Gazan, andSvend Robinson, and former provincial politicians includingGary Burrill andFlor Marcelino.[56]
Lewis is married to journalist and authorNaomi Klein. The couple have one son, Toma.[57]
He was featured on the November 20, 2001, "Life & Times" episode ofThe Lewis Family.[58] Lewis' genealogical search was featured on the January 31, 2008, episode of the CBC'sWho Do You Think You Are?[59]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Gemini Awards | Best Special Event Coverage | Election Night '93 | Won | |
| 1996 | Gemini Awards | Holy Macro Economics Taxman! - Budget '95 (as producer) | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | Gemini Awards | Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Talk/General Information Program or Series | CounterSpin (as host) | Nominated | |
| 2000 | Gemini Awards | Nominated | |||
| 2001 | Gemini Awards | Nominated | |||
| 2004 | International Documentary Association Awards | Feature Documentaries | The Take | Nominated | |
| American Film Institute Festival Awards | International Jury Prize | Won | [60] | ||
| 2005 | Gemini Awards | Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program | The Take (as producer) | Nominated | |
| Best Direction in a Documentary Program | Nominated | ||||
| 2015 | Toronto International Film Festival Awards | People's Choice Award: Documentaries | This Changes Everything | Runner-up | |
| CPH:DOX Awards | Politiken Audience Award | Nominated | |||
| F:ACT Award | Nominated | ||||
| 2016 | Docville Awards | ConScience Award | Won | [61] | |
| 2020 | News and Documentary Emmy Awards | Outstanding News Analysis: Editorial and Opinion | A Message from the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (as co-executive producer) | Nominated | [62] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–1998 | The NewMusic | Himself/host | |
| 1998–2001 | CounterSpin | ||
| 2006 | The Big Picture with Avi Lewis | ||
| 2007 | On the Map with Avi Lewis | ||
| 2008 | Inside USA | ||
| 2009 | Canada Reads | Himself/panelist | |
| 2009–2010 | Fault Lines | Himself/host |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Actor/narrator | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Take | Yes | No | No | Yes | Himself | |
| 2007 | Why Democracy? | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2009 | The Shock Doctrine | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2015 | This Changes Everything | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2019 | A Message from the Future withAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez | No | Yes | Yes | No | Short film | |
| 2020 | Message from the Future II: The Years of Repair | No | Yes | No | No | Short film |
| Year | Type | Riding | Party | Votes for Lewis | Result | Swing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | ±% | ||||||||
| 2021 | Federal election | West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast— Sea to Sky Country | New Democratic | 16,265 | 25.63% | 3rd | +11.74 | Lost | Hold | ||
| 2025 | Vancouver Centre | 6,807 | 12.49% | 3rd | –18.25 | Lost | Hold | ||||
| Candidate | First ballot | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ||
 | Rob Ashton | ||
 | Tanille Johnston | ||
| Avi Lewis | ||
 | Heather McPherson | ||
.jpg) | Tony McQuail | ||
| Total valid votes | |||
| Rejected ballots | |||
| Turnout | |||
| Eligible voters | TBA | ||
| Source: | |||
| 2025 Canadian federal election:Vancouver Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Hedy Fry | 29,855 | 54.79 | +14.35 | ||||
| Conservative | Elaine Allan | 16,368 | 30.04 | +8.42 | ||||
| New Democratic | Avi Lewis | 6,807 | 12.49 | –18.25 | ||||
| Green | Scott MacDonald | 757 | 1.39 | –2.54 | ||||
| People's | Christopher Varga | 211 | 0.39 | -2.88 | ||||
| Independent | Drew William McPherson | 63 | 0.12 | N/A | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 54,061 | 99.23 | — | $131,689.42 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 422 | 0.77 | −0.03 | |||||
| Turnout | 54,483 | 63.52 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 85,775 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional hold | Swing | +2.99 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[63][64][65] | ||||||||
| 2021 Canadian federal election:West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Patrick Weiler | 21,500 | 33.88 | -1.01 | $107,414.31 | |||
| Conservative | John Weston | 19,062 | 30.04 | +3.33 | $123,189.13 | |||
| New Democratic | Avi Lewis | 16,265 | 25.63 | +11.74 | $117,546.51 | |||
| Green | Mike Simpson | 4,108 | 6.47 | -15.97 | $35,992.60 | |||
| People's | Doug Bebb | 2,299 | 3.62 | +2.08 | $26,851.53 | |||
| Rhinoceros | Gordon Jeffrey | 98 | 0.15 | -0.12 | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Chris MacGregor | 77 | 0.12 | $0.00 | ||||
| Independent | Terry Grimwood | 50 | 0.08 | -0.16 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 63,459 | – | – | $131,270.20 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 279 | |||||||
| Turnout | 64.6% | |||||||
| Eligible voters | 98,256 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | -2.17 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[66] | ||||||||
"I'm excited that Canada will have Avi Lewis representing you — and a little jealous too," she said, perhaps prematurely, in an endorsement video.
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |