What We Knew

Tanille Johnston’s pitch to NDP leadership voters includes a strong combination of community governance and personal activism as an Indigenous leader. And she’s highlighted those themes throughout the campaign, while also going through several rounds of mutual aid with Tony McQuail which offer an example as to how to provide distinct visions while ultimately pulling in the same direction.

What We’ve Learned

Unfortunately, Johnston’s personal appeal and strengths on paper don’t seem to have translated into a particularly strong campaign. 

While she and McQuail have both managed to assemble enough support to stay in the race, neither has been able to do much more than that. Johnston’s list of endorsements is modest based on her track record, and she hasn’t been especially impressive in the course of the debates.

What She’s Proposing

While Johnston hasn’t presented as comprehensive a set of policies as the front-runners, she can take credit for dealing in depth with a couple of issues. Her detailed and principled proposals for Indigenous reconciliation and empowerment should offer the eventual winner an ideal starting point for the party to embrace, and her thoughtful AI platform offers a helpful counter to the blind hype espoused by the Libs and Cons.

What to Watch For

In any ranked-voting campaign there’s always potential for the first supporters of a lower-ranked candidate to substantially affect the voting process if the final outcome is close, and Johnston’s support could plausibly go to either of the primary candidates if she makes an endorsement of her own. Beyond that, Johnston has certainly confirmed her place as one of the leaders who should be able to rebuild the NDP’s Vancouver Island stronghold, and help set the party’s long-term direction.