Chantal Hebert

And that's a moment that's forward, not backward.

in the rearview mirror of the government.

He's also taking a pass on the Beaches seat in downtown Toronto.

And no one can argue that Abby Lewis lacks Ontario roots, given that he was raised there, and his father was the leader of the Ontario NDP.

So Beaches, this is an area that has been kind to the NDP in the past, so it's not a bad riding to run in.

I frankly don't really buy the I'm more efficient by not being in the House of Commons and I can be all this without any presence on Parliament Hill.

I think Henry Lewis is rightly scared of running and losing.

And he is lost twice in BC, so it's not as if, you know, there are people you could run.

I'll give you two examples that would win ridings, even unnatural ones.

One of those is my MP here in Noyer-Sainte-Marie.

Noyer-Sainte-Marie used to be Gilles Sepp, the Bloc Québécois leader's stronghold.

But when the Liberals decided to run Stephen Guilbeault here,

It didn't really matter that he was running for someone called Trudeau in a former Bloc stronghold.

He could get himself elected because he was a household name in urban circles, at least in Quebec.

And people thought it was a great idea to send him to Parliament Hill.

Well, Abby Lewis tried that twice in B.C.

and failed.

I'm guessing if I were him, I would think, what's the worst thing to stay out of the house and say, I'm, you know, rebuilding the party from the outside at ground level where the grassroots are, or I'm going to take a shot again at the BCC that I made.

actually not win.

And at that point, I become not a lame duck leader because I was just elected, but at least one that is carrying some significant battle scars early, early on.