This fall is shaping up to be an extremely busy time for the New Democratic Party. Not only is the Manitoba NDP selecting its new leader on Sept. 16, but the federal party’s leadership election will also come to a head in early October.

Thompson’s own Niki Ashton is one of four candidates currently jockeying for this position, having launched her campaign all the way back in early March. Of course, this isn’t the first time the Churchill-Keewatinook Aski MP has been in the national spotlight, having unsuccessfully run for the federal NDP leadership back in 2012.

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However, this time around Ashton thinks she has a real shot at separating her campaign from the rest.

While she shares a lot of the same overriding values with her opponents—Charlie Angus, Guy Caron, and Jagmeet Singh—Ashton said her stance on a number of issues has been able to pull them in a more bold, progressive direction over the last five months.

“Our race has been seen as setting some markers right from the beginning on issues like a strong position on economic justice that includes free tuition, that includes a bold tax reform policy, making the rich and corporations pay their fair share,” Ashton said in an Aug. 29 interview with the Thompson Citizen. “On the environmental front, we’ve talked about the need to invest in a green transition. We were the first ones to come out against the pipelines that are being proposed.”

“So we’ve been very hard hitting on the issues in such a way that has brought the other candidates to share similar positions, in some instances.”

One of Ashton’s most recent moves to distinguish herself from the rest of the progressive crowd was the unveiling of her racial justice platform, which aims to fix a criminal justice system that, according to her official website, “upholds the oppression of racialized communities, while fostering Islamophobia, anti-black racism, and violence towards Indigenous peoples.”

Outside of instituting measures to end the practice of carding and strengthen transparency and accountability practices for the RCMP, Ashton’s racial justice platform also involves going after big pieces of federal legislation like Bill C-51.

“Bill C-51 is still in place and despite minor tweaks it is still very problematic,” said Ashton. “This legislation needs to be repealed … it doesn’t actually make our community safer, but rather seeks to target Indigenous communities and racialized communities for often just defending their rights.”

Despite tackling these large, national issues, Ashton said she isn’t forgetting about her roots and looks to keep Northern Manitoba interests in mind if she becomes the next leader of the NDP.

“Our north has figured prominently in the race. I’ve been very outspoken … on the situation facing Churchill … about the way in which foreign ownership, particularly in terms of what Vale is facing, has been something that we need to fight back against,” she said. “I’ve always been outspoken on First Nations’ issues, and so that will continue. The issues that we deal with in Northern Manitoba are of national importance.”

Ashton also maintains that if she is elected leader she will continue to live in her own riding, just like Jack Layton and Tom Mulcair before her.

“Would there be new responsibilities? Absolutely. But I’ve had the benefit of being able to do the work of a Member of Parliament for some time and so I’m not new to a lot of the work that would be involved.”

Even though Ashton said the NDP is at a “crossroads” since the 2015 federal election—where they dropped from being the official opposition to a third party status—she believes Canadians are poised and ready to stand up against the empty promises made by the likes of the Liberal party.

“We have a prime minister that uses a lot of progressive rhetoric, but of course he’s breaking his promises in different respects,” said Ashton. “So our ability to put forward a vision that really speaks to Canadians is an exciting prospect in the times that we live in and I believe that’s critical for the NDP to do that, given the ground that we’ve lost and the need to rebuild.”

After a pair of NDP leadership debates in Vancouver (Sept. 10) and Hamilton (Sept. 17), first ballot voting opens Sept. 18, with the results being announced Oct. 1. If a second and third ballot is required, voting for those periods with end Oct. 8 and Oct. 17, respectively.