While the 2019 federal election wasn’t a complete wipe out for the New Democrats, it didn’t go well either. They dropped 20 seats from 44 in 2015 to the 24 they either held or were able to pick up at the end of the night on election day. However, given that many pollsters and analysts were suggesting that the NDP was heading for single digit seats given their polling numbers at the start of the campaign, losing only 20 seats was probably on the best-case scenario end of the spectrum.

The NDP had a rocky start to their campaign. Little campaign coverage, no leader recognition and a platform that just brimmed with policy proposals (I’ll return to this point later). Couple that with a still relatively popular Liberal leader and an ineffective Conservative one and most eyes and support were still in the Liberal camp. It wasn’t until the first commission debate that the NDP really started to regain their footing. So, if I were to suggest what the NDP should do to revive itself going forward, where would I start?

First things first New Democrats, keep your leader.

While, yes, Jagmeet lost seats in the previous election, I’d honestly argue that the NDP was going to lose seats regardless of whoever was in the leader’s seat. With the Liberals still retaining a fair amount of strength, especially in the urban centres, the NDP was put on the defensive in English Canada. Meanwhile, the rise of the Bloc targeted both them and the Liberals in Quebec which led to further losses. So why keep Singh on as leader? Simple, he’s likeable. Extremely likeable in fact.

Prior to the 2019 election many Canadians had no idea who Singh was. Part of this was due to the fact it took him more than a year to get a seat in the House of Commons while another part of this was probably due to the lack of media coverage he received prior to the election. I personally told people to watch out for Singh before the 2019 campaign kicked off. Singh is personable, likeable and an intelligent guy and I argued that when the campaign was underway and he was given ample time in front of the cameras, people would instantly start to like the guy. Suffice to say, I was right in that regard. Singh saw massive jumps in his favourable ratings during the election and remains as the most liked leader in the House of Commons according to recent polling.

The New Democrats desperately need a leader that Canadians like. It would be, in my honest opinion, a foolish move to toss Singh after this election when there’s so much potential stored up in his political brand right now. Singh was able to keep his message clear, concise and repetitive on the campaign trail with only one thing holding him back, the vastness of the NDP’s election platform.

I think this is a recurring problem for the NDP at the federal level. They spend time trying to ignite many different small fires as opposed to one or two large ones. Look back at the election campaign and think for a moment what each of the major parties were promising.

Conservatives? Well the cancellation of the carbon tax and focusing on Trudeau as a corrupt or seedy character comes to mind. How about the Liberals? Tax cuts for the middle class. The NDP? Pharmacare and dentalcare. Oh, and don’t forget about a Green New Deal and reconciliation and visioncare and hearingcare and … Well you get my point.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of detailed policy proposals and I think the NDP had plenty of important and needed policies on the table. Problem is, many Canadians are not me. Many Canadians don’t have the time or don’t have the patience to wade through a seventy plus page document detailing everything the party is going to do, never mind having the party leader focus on so many different topics on the debate stage.

So, my second piece of advice? When it comes to messaging, as one of my university professors would always say, keep it simple, stupid.

The NDP should focus on one or two big ideas and push those ideas aggressively during the campaign. But those ideas also have to be popular and they have to be unique to the party. Take pharmacare for example. The NDP were pushing pharmacare aggressively but so were the Liberals and the Greens. They were simply crowding each other out on that specific policy issue and pharmacare became synonymous with any party that wasn’t the Conservatives. Here’s a pair of policy ideas that the NDP should be running on in the next election if they want to make an impact.

Firstly, dentalcare. The NDP was already running on the idea of dentalcare but, as I said before, they simply crowded themselves out on the issue by also running on seventeen other different policy issues. If the NDP ran solely on dentalcare then not only would they separate themselves from the Liberals and Greens, but they would be providing a policy plank that would directly impact many Canadian lives. Dentalcare is massively expensive and there’s a lot of Canadians who simply skip out on going to the dentist because they cant afford it. Hell, the receptionist at my dentist office was not amused when I had to pay with my credit card upfront and said, ‘It’s almost like our teeth should be covered by our healthcare system and I should be using my health card instead.’ Dentalcare is a pocketbook issue for many Canadians and that’s what makes it a policy worth focusing on.

For a second big idea for the NDP to focus on, promise to create a nationalized telecommunications company. Not only would the NDP massively stand out from the rest of the crowd by making such a policy apart of their campaign platform but, like dentalcare, would help Canadians and their bottom lines. I’m sure I don’t have to explain to anyone reading this what a rip-off Canadian phone and internet costs are especially if you’re in rural Canada like me. We pay, for pretty dismal service as it is, about $180 a month for internet alone in our house and that’s for service about a quarter of what someone could get in a city for $50 a month. Not only would such a plan help Canadians, rural and urban, but it would also finally mean that a party would take concrete actions against the big Telco’s like Bell and Rogers. Again, this is another pocketbook issue for Canadians that would save money. This idea has NDP written all over it to the point that I’m surprised they haven’t run on it nation-wide before.

If I heard the NDP was running on universal dentalcare and a promise to create a nationalized telecommunications company to cut costs for Canadians, I’d be impressed to say the least. They’re bold ideas and ideas that would help everyday Canadians. Couple that with a likeable leader like Jagmeet Singh and a broadening of their overall messaging and I think the NDP could substantially increase their seat counts in the next election.

Curtis Fric Owner and operator of the non-partisan Polling Canada and Polling USA accounts. See author's posts