Avi Lewis
Avram David "Avi" Lewis is a Canadian politician, journalist, and activist.
Raised in a political family, Lewis began his career in broadcasting, hosting several programs for Citytv, CBC News and Al Jazeera English including The NewMusic, ''CounterSpin, On the Map with Avi Lewis, The Big Picture with Avi Lewis, and Fault Lines. With his wife Naomi Klein, Lewis directed the documentaries The Take and This Changes Everything.'' Along with Klein and several other activists, Lewis launched the Leap Manifesto in 2015. Lewis is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia and was previously a lecturer at Rutgers University.
A member of the New Democratic Party, he was a candidate in the 2021 and 2025 federal elections, losing both times. He is a candidate in the party's 2026 leadership election.
Early life and education
Avram David Lewis was born in May 1967 in Toronto, Ontario, where he was raised. Lewis is the great-grandson of Moishe Lewis, an outspoken member of the Jewish Bund who left Svislach, Poland, after being interrogated by the Russians and threatened with death or the gulag for his political activity. Moishe left for Montreal in 1921, with his wife Rose and three children. His grandfather David Lewis was the leader of the NDP from 1971 to 1975, and his father Stephen Lewis was the leader of the Ontario NDP from 1970 to 1978 and served as the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. His mother is journalist and author Michele Landsberg. Lewis has two siblings: casting director Jenny Lewis and Ilana Landsberg Lewis.Lewis attended Jarvis Collegiate Institute and Upper Canada College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from University College at the University of Toronto in 1988.
Career
Early broadcasting career
Between 1996 and 1998, Lewis was the host of The NewMusic, a music magazine show on MuchMusic and Citytv. He also served as MuchMusic's political specialist, doing extensive special events coverage for the channel, covering the 1993 Canadian federal election and the 1995 Quebec referendum. Lewis won a Gemini Award for Best Event Coverage.Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
From 1998 to 2001, he hosted CBC Newsworld's current affairs discussion show CounterSpin, where he presided over 500 debates. He was later the host of Counterspin Sunday. Lewis began hosting The Big Picture with Avi Lewis in the autumn of 2006 and On the Map in 2007. In the latter program, Lewis conducted interviews with Ayaan Hirsi Ali and John Bolton, among others. He was a panellist on Canada Reads, which aired from March 2 to 6, 2009, where he presented, and successfully defended, the winning book, Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes.In June 2007, CBC Newsworld debuted On the Map with Avi Lewis, a daily half-hour of international news commentary. On the Map half-hour time slot was replaced with a half-hour summary of the daily hour-long show Politics by Don Newman. During the same time period on CBC Television, The Hour, hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos aired.
Al Jazeera
Inside USA was first telecast on Al Jazeera English on February 8, 2008, with the episode "Politics of Race". Al Jazeera describes Inside USA as "an in-depth look at the real issues at stake in the US presidential election." "Politics Of Race", released on February 22, 2008, focused on the situation in New Orleans and the disenfranchisement of Black voters. "Native Americans", released on March 1, 2008, focused on Lakota Sioux separatism and the social and economic issues surrounding the Lakota Sioux, Navajo and the Shoshone peoples. 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 of Fault Lines in 2009, a program known for investigative storytelling examining the United States and its role in the world.
Documentary films
In 2004, Lewis and his wife Naomi Klein collaborated on The Take, a documentary that detailed the "recovered factory" movement in Argentina. The Take, winner of the International Jury Prize at the American 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, a non-profit microcredit aimed at cooperatives active in the United States and Argentina.From October 8 to 18, 2007, Lewis hosted the ten-part international documentary series Why Democracy? in Canada.
Lewis directed the 2015 feature-length documentary This Changes Everything, which finished second in the audience voting, for the documentary category, at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
With his organization, The Leap, Lewis co-wrote a short film titled A Message from the Future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019. It was nominated for Outstanding News Analysis: Editorial and Opinion at the 41st News and Documentary Emmy Awards. A sequel, titled Message from the Future II: The Years of Repair was also co-written by Lewis and was released in 2020 by The Intercept.
Academics and journalism
He was a journalism and media studies lecturer at Rutgers University in New Jersey and is currently an associate professor in the geography department of the University of British Columbia, where he teaches courses on social and political change, communication and documentary filmmaking.He is a contributor to news sites including The Breach.
Leap Manifesto
In September 2015, Lewis, Naomi Klein, and others launched the Leap Manifesto, which proposed broad changes to Canadian society and economics in order to respond to climate 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 the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign. 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 a Green New Deal in 2019.Political beginnings
An active member of the NDP, he was speculated as a potential candidate in the 2017 leadership election, but declined to run. Lewis supports shifting the NDP further to the left, endorsing and campaigning for several progressive candidates in internal NDP elections, such as Anjali Appadurai in the 2022 BC NDP leadership election.In May 2021, Lewis was nominated as the NDP's candidate for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, British Columbia for the 2021 Canadian federal election, which was subsequently called for September 20, 2021. Lewis' run for federal parliament was endorsed by environmentalist David Suzuki, actress Jane Fonda, playwright Eve Ensler, folk singer and activist Billy Bragg, and biologist Alexandra Morton. He received 25.63% of the vote, the NDP's best result in the riding, but still came in third behind incumbent Liberal Patrick Weiler and Conservative John Weston. In September 2024, Lewis was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in Vancouver Centre for the 2025 Canadian federal election, he placed third, behind incumbent Liberal Hedy Fry and Conservative Elaine Allan, as the NDP lost the majority of its seats in the House of Commons and official party status.
2026 NDP leadership campaign
Lewis is a candidate in the 2026 NDP leadership election. He launched his campaign on September 19, 2025, being the first candidate approved to run. He held his campaign launch in Toronto. His policies include establishing a Canadian Green New Deal, supporting Palestinian rights, creating a "public option" for groceries, building public housing, implementing a moratorium on AI data centre contruction, and expanding healthcare access. By the end of December 2025, his campaign claimed that it had raised nearly $783,000. By the end of January 2026, it was reported that his campaign had raised over $1,000,000. During the campaign period, Lewis was endorsed by current and former MPs Libby Davies, Leah Gazan, and Svend Robinson, and former provincial politicians including Gary Burrill and Flor Marcelino.Personal life
Lewis is married to journalist and author Naomi Klein. The couple have one son, Toma.He was featured on the November 20, 2001, "Life & Times" episode of The Lewis Family. Lewis' genealogical search was featured on the January 31, 2008, episode of the CBC's ''Who Do You Think You Are?''