Wealth, privilege and champagne socialism: inside the NDP’s family business
Avi Lewis is not just leading a political party, he is perpetuating a family dynasty of 'socialist royalty,' disconnected from the working-class realities his rhetoric claims to champion.
Article by Rebel News staff
Avi Lewis didn’t just inherit politics ... he inherited a family throne. His grandfather, David Lewis, led the Ontario NDP. His father, Stephen Lewis, took the federal party helm and later became Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations. And now Avi Lewis carries the torch, making it three generations in a row. Rare in any party, this succession looks less like democracy and more like royalty: an elite dynasty masquerading as populist socialism.
Yet while the NDP claims to fight for the underprivileged, Avi Lewis’s upbringing tells a very different story. He spent his formative years at Upper Canada College, Toronto’s priciest private school and a grooming ground for Canada’s elite. In the 1990 essay collection Old Boys: The Powerful Legacy of Upper Canada College, Lewis reflects on those years ... not as a student of modest means, but as one among the privileged. He describes classmates who “would run this world in their purest state” and recounts escorting Prince Philip during the school’s sesquicentennial.
Despite this, Lewis frames himself as a victim of wealth and privilege. He repeatedly emphasizes how “gifted” he was and how persecuted he felt, ignoring that he had access, opportunity and every material advantage imaginable. He paints the schoolyard as a microcosm of corporate ruthlessness, yet he personally benefited from the very elite networks he claims to disdain. This is the hallmark of the “champagne socialist”: lecturing the working class while living among the rich and insulated.
The NDP under Lewis reflects the same contradictions. Once the party of farmers and union workers, it now prioritizes identity politics, equity initiatives, and “race cards” in party procedures, an Orwellian twist that rewards activism over merit or experience. Lewis himself advocates public ownership of the means of production while comfortably ensconced in wealth, married to activist Naomi Klein, and surrounded by lifelong left-wing elites.
GUEST: Stockwell Day joins the Ezra to discuss the NDP leadership result.
COMMENTS
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John Van Vliet commented 2026-04-01 13:02:54 -0400It is very sad to see how far Canada has lost any integrity and respect for the laws based on our Judea/Christian heritage, and as I listen to what was said, there is little or no difference between the Liberal socialist and the NDP socialist; they seem to have the same outlook and objectives, but go about it in different ways.
The youth in Canada have been brainwashed with the socialist/Marxist ideology and have rejected the idea of being responsible.
Look at Canada’s parties; they have no vision for the country, but spew a variety of socialist dreams which have failed in the countries that have based their ideology on socialism.
The socialists started with laws against the basic principles laid out in the Bible, and what has that accomplished? Nothing but a decline in the standard of living and destroying the principles of right and wrong, we have leaders who are totally clueless about what they are doing. This is because they have rejected the moral compass that has guided the human race, based on divine principles.
The Judea/Christian principles require each person to take responsibility for their actions. Now, the government is taking over that responsibility, and we all see the problems that are arising, which will result in complete chaos and misery.
I watched the NDP leader speak, and it made me angry and sad at the same time, because these people have no principles and will not take any responsibility; they are only seeking control and power over their citizens, and I see the same parallel ideology between the Liberals and the NDP. As a whole, the political system in Canada is founded and guided by an outdated, discriminatory Commonwealth system of laws and a power-oriented ideology, put in place in the 1600s by the British.
The Conservatives will never gain control, for the system will not allow this! That is why it would be far better that we, Albertans, pull up our socks and leave the socialist/Marxist clown world in Ottawa.
The socialist have shown their real colours since P. Trudeau brought home the so-called Canadian Bill of Rights, which has given us very few rights and a powerful dictatorial government that is putting up its real intent over the past decade! -
Fran g commented 2026-04-01 12:30:16 -0400Clips of the ndp leadership event went viral. Not because it was amazing but because it was so batshit crazy! The lunacy of these messed up people is off the charts. They will certainly get all the sad examples of people who are living in some weird upside down fantacy world but I fear muslim activists will join. Misery loves company. Once again Canada is a cautionary tale of where you dont want to be. -
David Murphy commented 2026-04-01 01:29:32 -0400David Lewis was leader of the NATIONAL NDP during the 1970s. -
Paul Scofield commented 2026-03-31 21:46:18 -0400Those jockeying for positions in Lewis’ retinue – as Denyse O’Leary so eloquently puts it – would do well to remember the ’Lady of Riga:"
There was a young lady of Riga
Who rode on the back of a tiger
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside
And a smile on the face of the tiger. -
Denyse O'Leary commented 2026-03-31 21:04:22 -0400There is nothing inconsistent about any of this. Avi Lewis belongs to a socialist aristocracy. The people who still vote socialist are mainly U types and crats. They hope for a place in his retinue. By providing the balance of power for the Liberals. time and again, they can come close to ruling over us. -
Bruce Atchison commented 2026-03-31 20:43:38 -0400Avi Lewis needs to see communism first hand. It all sounds good until it’s put into practice. Remember Animal Farm?