Ontario NDP Leader Stiles wins leadership review, but says changes are needed

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles won a leadership review on Saturday.

Stiles won 68 per cent of the votes cast at a party convention in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Speaking at the convention, Stiles said the Ontario NDP will learn from the last election and make needed changes.

“We cannot run the same election campaign that we ran last time … we need to make a change in this party if we’re going to be able to defeat Doug Ford in the next election,” Stiles said at the convention.

 In February, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won a third majority government.

The convention, which happens every two years, was the first one held in person since 2019. The NDP leadership review comes after a resignation announcement by Bonnie Crombie as the Ontario Liberal leader.

“We’re going to make the change that we need to make in this movement and in this party, and we are going to make the change that we need to be able to organize in the communities where we need to win in the next election,” she said.

While speaking at the convention, Stiles said the party will be establishing a new Ontario NDP leadership program to train future candidates, campaign staff and organizers.

“Our new leadership program is going to give participants the skills and the mentorship and the hands-on experience to lead us to victory in 2029 and beyond,” she said.

Stiles highlighted the need to build grassroots support across ridings.

Alexa Gilmour, an NDP MPP for Parkdale-High Park, said she saw strong support for Stiles at the convention.

“We’re thrilled that we’ve got a leader that people are behind. We’re aware that there’s room to grow,” she said.

Gilmour also highlighted grassroots involvement as one of the changes the party will focus on.

“I think the Ontario NDP gets a lot of things right, and we want to make sure we communicate that out to people so that they know that we have their backs and that we’re there for them,” she said.

“Then there’s the pieces where we are learning as things shift on the ground for people in this really precarious time. And we’re going to make sure that we’re there for them.”

Ahead of the next election, Gilmour identified economic worries and housing as major issues for voters.

“There’s no doubt that there is a lot of economic anxiety in our province right now. And so we are going to respond to that. We’re going to make sure that there are good, unionized jobs out there,” she said.

“We are going to make sure that this backwards movement that the Ford government has in housing finally goes in the right direction, with affordable housing built in Ontario, by Ontario, with Ontario materials.”

Meanwhile, the Ontario Liberals will look to hold their third leadership race since 2020 after Crombie received a weak show of support at the party’s annual general meeting.

Crombie, who won the party’s last leadership race in late 2023, said in a statement that she believes it is the best decision for the party to facilitate an orderly transition toward a leadership vote and she plans to resign upon the selection of a new leader.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2025.