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The Leap Manifesto, its co-advocate (co-progenitor? co-creator?) Avi Lewis has claimed, was not intended to rock the New Democratic Party to its foundations.

In fact it does that, and then some. Not only does the federal NDP’s tacit embrace of Leap, amid a leadership vacuum, thrust the party decisively back to the fringe; but the ripple effects have major implications for the Liberals and Conservatives. In effect, the Grits gain yet another big strategic advantage. And the Tories must now not simply delicately shimmy away from their Harper-era playbook, as they have been doing, but burn it outright.

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In effect, Lewis and his activist/author spouse, Naomi Klein, may just have succeeded in pushing the entire Canadian political spectrum to the left.

Consider the logic. In the years and months before last October’s federal vote, and in some respects during the fall campaign itself, it was clear to anyone paying attention that Stephen Harper, his strategists and tacticians were fonder of New Democrats than they were of Liberals. Partly this was due to personalities. Harper and the NDP’s Tom Mulcair, adversaries to be sure, viewed each other as worthy competitors — men of intellect, substance and experience — whereas both considered Liberal Justin Trudeau to be an inconsequential featherweight, coasting on looks and pedigree. Mulcair, in his heyday as Commons prosecutor-in-chief, boasted he’d wipe the floor with the upstart. Members of Harper’s team incessantly dismissed Trudeau as a non-entity.