Majority of Canadians unfamiliar with possible NDP leadership contenders, poll finds
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A majority of respondents to the Research Co. poll said they 'don't know who the person is' when asked about possible candidates like current NDP MPs Leah Gazan, Gord Johns, Jenny Kwan and Heather McPherson.
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The same goes for other high-profile New Democrats like former House leader Ruth Ellen Brosseau, former Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart and filmmaker Avi Lewis. The poll also asked about former MP Nathan Cullen and Tony McQuail, an Ontario farmer who plans to enter the leadership race.
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Brosseau got the most positive response in the poll, with 18 per cent of respondents saying they have a favourable view of her. Kwan, meanwhile, had the largest number of poll respondents saying they 'definitely' or 'probably' want to see her run for the leadership — a combined 22 per cent.
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The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
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On Tuesday, the party announced the formal launch of its 'review and renewal' process after former leader Jagmeet Singh lost his own seat and resigned as leader in the April 28 election.
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The process will be led by human rights lawyer and former Ottawa NDP candidate Emilie Taman.
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The NDP lost official party status after being reduced to just seven seats in the House of Commons, five shy of the 12-seat threshold for recognition.
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The party says the consultation stage of the review will begin 'in the coming weeks' and include discussions hosted by local campaign teams, listening sessions with party leaders and one-on-one meetings with current and former MPs, plus key campaign staff.
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
A Texas Democrat sleeps at the Capitol to protest GOP actions in Texas redistricting fight
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier refused to come to the state Capitol for two weeks. Now she won't leave. Collier was among dozens of Democrats whose walkout to Illinois, Massachusetts and New York delayed the passage of redrawn congressional maps sought by President Donald Trump. When they returned Monday, Republicans insisted the Democrats have around-the-clock police escorts to ensure they wouldn't leave again. But Collier declined to sign what Democrats called a 'permission slip' agreeing to have Department of Public Safety troopers follow them so that they could leave the Texas House chamber. So she spent Monday night and into Tuesday on the House floor, where she set up a livestream from the chamber while her Democratic colleagues outside had plainclothes officers following them to their offices and homes. Collier said having officers shadow her was an attack on her dignity and an attempt to control her movements. 'We need to shake things up and make some good trouble to have good change,' Collier said in a video Tuesday morning. The trooper assignments, ordered by Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows, was another escalation of a redistricting battle that has widened across the country. Trump is pushing GOP state officials to tilt the map for the 2026 midterms more in his favor to preserve the GOP's slim House majority, and Democrats nationally have rallied around efforts to retaliate. 'They're following us everywhere,' said Houston-area Democratic Rep. Suleman Lalani. 'That's a very uncertain feeling that you have — that whatever you do, wherever you go, somebody's following you, somebody's behind the car.' The House was scheduled to vote Wednesday on the GOP plan, which is designed to send five additional Republicans from Texas to the U.S. House. Texas Democrats returned to Austin after Democrats in California launched an effort to redraw their state's districts to take five seats back from Republicans. Under the House's rules, the permission slips are needed to leave the House floor, though it wasn't clear how strictly that was being enforced. Wu, from Houston, and state Rep. Vincel Perez, of El Paso, stayed overnight with Collier, who represents a minority-majority district in Fort Worth. Throughout the day, Democrats visited Collier on the floor, which has a lounge and restrooms for members. Suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa suggested that Burrows was trying to appease GOP colleagues who want Democrats punished. Republicans issued civil arrest warrants to bring the Democrats back, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the state Supreme Court to oust Wu and several other Democrats from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of $500 for every day they were absent. 'This is more of an intimidation factor for the public — 'if we can do this to them, we can do it to you,'' Plesa said Tuesday from the House floor. Burrows dismissed Collier's protest, saying he was focused on important issues, such as providing property tax relief and responding to last month's deadly floods. His statement did not mention redistricting. 'Rep. Collier's choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules,' Burrows said. Under those rules, until Wednesday's scheduled vote, the chamber's doors are locked, and no member can leave 'without the written permission of the speaker.' Burrows' office declined to discuss the details of how officers were shadowing Democrats and the Department of Public Safety did not respond to an email message. Republicans want to ensure that the House has the 100 of 150 members present it needs to do business Wednesday. But Democrats said officers followed them in hallways and some even stayed in their offices. Plesa said she was tailed back to her apartment in Austin, and she saw an officer in an unmarked car watching her as she left Tuesday morning for the Capitol. Republicans argued that Democrats abandoned their duties for two weeks, preventing action on range of multiple issues, including flood relief and redistricting. Democrats' absence forced Republicans to adjourn a special session, though Gov. Greg Abbott called a second one before the first one had ended Friday. Democrats derided the shadowing as a waste of taxpayer dollars that took officers away from investigations of serious crimes. 'It's ludicrous,' Houston Democratic Rep. Armando Walle said. 'Do they really think we want to break quorum again, after being gone for two weeks — away from our family and our businesses?' ___ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas, and Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
Texas Democrat sleeps in House chamber in protest of GOP police escort
A Democratic lawmaker has vowed to stay in the Texas Capitol rather than accept an around-the-clock police escort that Republicans imposed to keep her and her colleagues from leaving the state again and further delaying the GOP's redrawing of congressional districts as President Donald Trump wants. State Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth said in an interview Tuesday she would sleep on the House floor until Labour Day if she had to, reports NBC News. As of Tuesday afternoon, she's remained in the room for more than 24 hours. It's a further act of resistance from Collier, who joined dozens of Texas Democrats in a two-week walkout after Democrats in California heeded Gov. Gavin Newsom's call to counter the GOP effort in Texas by redrawing districts there. And while the walk-out ended Monday, Collier vowed to sleep on the House floor, refusing to sign what Democratic lawmakers are calling 'permission slips' to leave the building and accept around-the-clock surveillance. Story continues below advertisement Collier described it as an attack on her dignity and an effort to control her movements. 'I don't want to bring that into my neighbourhood. I don't need to add any more law enforcement in areas that are already over-policed,' Collier told The Washington Post on Monday evening as she prepared to spend the night. 'My community has sent me here to be a fighter, and this is the way that I am fighting.' 'They're taking away our vote,' Collier added, referring to the GOP's redistricting plan. 'I'm not going to let them take away my voice.' It was very cold spending on the #txlege Floor! Rep. @VinceMPerez & I joined @NicoleCollier95 in support of making #GoodTrouble! We know this is a #riggedredistricting process. Democrats are not giving up! Thanks for the support, standing with @TexasHDC, & we have coffee! — Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) August 19, 2025 Republicans are trying to prevent a repeat of the boycott that denied the House enough members to meet and prevented it from doing any business. Dozens of lawmakers fled to Democratic-led states, including California, Illinois and Massachusetts, to stay out of the reach of Texas law enforcement officers trying to bring them back. Story continues below advertisement Collier told The Washington Post that legislative staffers offered to leave a Capitol bathroom unlocked for her and that her colleagues were bringing her food. She said she was allowed to visit her office with a police escort. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Early Tuesday morning, she shared a photo to X, claiming she spent the night sleeping upright in a chair on the House floor, complete with a bonnet, eye mask and several blankets and pillows. As of Tuesday afternoon, Collier remained in the room, and continued to livestream her protest on X. Rep. Collier in House Chamber Live — Nicole Collier (@NicoleCollier95) August 19, 2025 Story continues below advertisement 'At what point, what is it going to take for us to say 'enough is enough?' Yesterday was my moment. Enough is enough,' Collier said in an interview Tuesday with NBC News, as someone brought out a mattress for her to sleep on during her second night of protest. 'I see it. The writing is on the wall. They want power at all costs. And you're not taking it from me without a fight.' According to The Washington Post, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R), who ordered the Democratic lawmakers to be monitored by police if they left the state Capitol, was indifferent to Collier's protest. 'Rep. Collier's choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules. I am choosing to spend my time focused on moving the important legislation on the call to overhaul camp safety, provide property tax reform and eliminate the STAAR test — the results Texans care about,' Burrows said in a statement, referring to standardized tests for Texas students. Trump trying to avoid a congressional check on him Both Trump and the Democrats are looking ahead to the 2026 midterms knowing that they often go against the president's party, as they did during Trump's first term in 2018. Republicans currently have a seven-seat majority in the 435-member House. Story continues below advertisement State legislatures draw the lines after each U.S. census in most states — including Texas — and only a few dozen House districts are competitive. In Texas, Republicans hold 25 of 38 seats, and they're trying to increase that to 30. In California, Democrats have 43 of the 52 seats, and they're trying to boost that to 48, to wipe out the advantage the GOP would gain from redrawing lines in Texas. California more complicated for Democrats In some ways, the nation's most populous state, California, is a reverse-mirror image of the nation's second-most populous state, Texas. Democrats are even more firmly in control of state government there than Republicans are in Texas, with Democratic supermajorities in both California legislative chambers. But California's districts were drawn by an independent commission created by a statewide vote in 2008 after years of intense partisan battles over redistricting. Story continues below advertisement Democrats are trying to avoid legal challenges to a new map by asking voters to approve it as an exception to the normal process, which would require a special election in November. Texas has no such commission, so its legislature doesn't have to seek voters' approval for its maps. California lawmakers returned Monday to the state capital from a summer break. They are scheduled to remain in session through Sept. 12. California begins voting on proposed congressional map California Democrats are expected to advance their proposal out of committees Tuesday and Wednesday. They have already received more than 13,000 public comments through an online portal, and the committee hearings offer the public a chance to provide feedback to lawmakers in person. Dozens of residents from up and down the state, leaders of local Republican groups and the conservative California Family Council showed up to a hearing Tuesday to voice opposition to the Democrats' plan. Story continues below advertisement Some said the process has been shrouded in secrecy because the map was drawn without meaningful public input. Others said they would rather lawmakers focus on addressing issues instead of trying to bypass a bipartisan redistricting process. — With files from The Associated Press
3 hours ago
Donations to Sean Feucht groups via B.C.-based charity add to financial transparency concerns raised in Canada
A non-profit watchdog says Canadians have no way of knowing how much money is being donated to an evangelical group founded by an American who is making headlines across the country for event cancellations and questions about his views. Permits for Sean Feucht's summertime worship concert events organized by his Burn 24/7 group in major cities across Canada — including Winnipeg, Halifax, Charlottetown and Abbotsford, B.C. — were cancelled recently amid public backlash. The Canadian arm of Feucht's Burn 24/7 organization accepts some donations via the Great Commission Foundation, a B.C.-based registered charity that provides tax receipts on behalf of hundreds of unregistered Christian organizations. Charity Intelligence says the foundation's finances are opaque, and the only way to get audited statements is through access-to-information requests. This charity is not financially transparent, said Kate Bahen, Charity Intelligence's managing director. When charities are not transparent and are not accountable and they're not open and disclosing where the money goes, that opens them up to these questions. Enlarge image (new window) The project page for Burn 24/7 Canada on the Great Commission Foundation's website welcomes donations. The B.C.-based registered charity takes donations on behalf of hundreds of unregistered Christian organizations. Photo: CBC / Arturo Chang MAGA-affiliated musician and preacher Feucht has drawn condemnation over comments he's made online and in past interviews about abortion, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, critical race theory and gender diversity (new window) . Charity Intelligence's criticism of the foundation comes as others note that news articles about Feucht's cancelled worship concerts have likely raised his profile among potential donors. Kate Bahen of Charity Intelligence says the foundation's finances are opaque. Photo: Submitted by Charity Intelligence The attempt to censor has backfired in a way that's … brought him attention that $1 million in advertising would have never brought him, said James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. Burn Canada Ministries previously held registered charitable status in Canada, but it was revoked in 2021 over a failure to file required documents. Then in 2024, the Great Commission Foundation announced Burn Canada was one of its projects (new window) . Canadians can also donate directly to Burn Canada without receiving any tax receipts. In a 2024 annual report (new window) , the organization says broadly how it's spending funds on such things as recruitment, worship events and Feucht's Let Us Worship tour, but there is no detailed breakdown of its spending. CBC reached out to the Great Commission Foundation and Burn Canada for comment, asking them how much money the foundation processes on behalf of Burn Canada. They did not respond. Miles Howe, a Brock University sociology and criminology professor who studies charities, said oversight in the Canadian charity sector is too lenient, and the Great Commission Foundation should be scrutinized. Any time that you have a Canadian charity operating in this fashion of … an amped-up GoFundMe campaign for dozens of other intermediaries, be they qualified or non-qualified donees, it's certainly cause for further investigation, he said about the foundation. Audited Great Commission Foundation financial statements from 2022 obtained by Charity Intelligence through an access to information request show only consolidated results. There was $31.1 million in total agency program costs, but no disclosure of which organizations got the money. The foundation does break down how much it spends on individual international programs in publicly available filings. CRA not doing enough audits: Lawyer Toronto-based charity lawyer Mark Blumberg wouldn't speak about specific charities, but he said public filings usually have more information on foreign activity than on what charities manage inside the country. Guidance from the Canada Revenue Agency says while registered charities can use intermediaries or make grants, they cannot act as a conduit that merely funnels resources to an organization that is not a qualified donee. The CRA says charities must keep adequate records showing that's not the case. But Blumberg said most of the time, charities don't make it clear enough to the public that they're following the rules. A charity may be publicly talking about doing certain work, he said, but is there all the backup for it? Did they do the due diligence? Blumberg says transparency is an issue because Canadians may question why some charities get special tax privileges. He believes the CRA does not do enough audits, saying the agency only performs about 200 a year, even though there are about 86,000 registered charities. The CRA said in an email that its enforcement is based on the risk of non-compliance, and a charity may be chosen for an audit based on things like public complaints and media coverage. The CRA claims to have checks in place, Howe said, but to me … there's a lack of even baseline reporting there that the CRA appears comfortable with. Ex-Feucht volunteers urge caution Questions are also being raised in the United States about some of Feucht's charities. Burn 24/7 is only one of several charities led by Feucht, whose main organization — Sean Feucht Ministries — was given a withhold giving rating by U.S.-based Christian charity watchdog MinistryWatch (new window) , which gave it an "F" grade for transparency. Sean Feucht Ministries changed its Internal Revenue Service tax-exempt status to church in 2022, exempting it from filing some documents that provide financial information to the public. Another Feucht charity, Let Us Worship, is also exempt from disclosing that information because it has church status. Two other organizations, Burn 24/7 and Light a Candle, do file the U.S.-based tax Form 990, which can increase financial transparency. But for Burn 24/7, the most recent annual filing available is from 2021. In 2020, the last year in which Sean Feucht Ministries, Burn 24/7 and Light a Candle all reported publicly available financial details, the disclosed compensation for Feucht himself is listed as $167,000 US, $17,500 US and $37,467 US respectively. That equals over $221,000 US a year. Earlier this year, a group of former employees and volunteers who worked for Feucht called on the U.S. government to formally investigate Feucht's financial practices. 'Sean was like a hero,' says Richie Booth, who worked as an administrative staff member for Burn 24/7. Booth is part of a group of former volunteers and staffers calling for an investigation into Feucht's finances. Photo: Submitted by Richie Booth I was someone that believed in his cause, said Richie Booth, who worked as an administrative staff member for Burn 24/7. Sean was like a hero in the worship and prayer movement. He cautioned people who may agree with some of Feucht's views about donating to his ministries. The group of former supporters raises concerns about real estate owned by Feucht and his ministry, asking why a charity needs such expensive real estate. Public records say Sean Feucht Ministries is owner of a residential property in Washington, D.C., that was purchased for $967,000 US in 2022; a mansion in Orange County, Calif., that, according to real estate site RedFin, was bought for $3.5 million US in 2024; and a cabin and 40 acres of land in Montana with a market value of over $1 million US purchased in 2023. The Washington property is home to Camp Elah, which Feucht has described as his ministry headquarters in D.C. Enlarge image (new window) This mansion in Orange County belongs to Sean Feucht Ministries. Photo: Public disclosures from the D.C. licensing department show the non-profit status for Sean Feucht Ministries — which would allow it to operate in the U.S. capital — was revoked in 2023. A department spokesperson said in an email Tuesday the organization failed to submit a required filing. CBC News could not reach Feucht for comment. Feucht unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Republican in California in 2020. Documents say the singer's campaign made two contributions (new window) to Burn 24/7 despite U.S. regulations barring electoral committees from making donations to charities that have previously compensated candidates. The contributions to Burn 24/7 totalled $22,844 US in 2020 and 2021 — both years when Feucht received compensation as president of Burn 24/7, tax filings say. More than half of the donated money ended up being returned to the campaign after regulators told the campaign committee that a number of prohibited contributions had to be refunded to donors, U.S. Federal Election Commission documents say. Christy Gafford appears at a Burn 24/7 'furnace' in Corsicana, Texas, in 2021. Gafford served as national director for the U.S. non-profit. Photo: Submitted by Christy Gafford Christy Gafford, who served as a national director for Burn 24/7 at the time, said she did not have any information on the campaign, but that she has serious concerns regarding how Feucht operates through his organizations. He's very charismatic. He is very influential. But I also believe that he utilizes his platform to dictate a narrative that is going to be beneficial to him, she said. I believe that he uses that platform to increase the controversy, instead of actually using the platform to properly tell the gospel. Gafford said that the controversy in Canada has played into Feucht's hands. He creates a narrative that is going to, in the long run, make him look as though he is persecuted and utilize that to increase his own enrichment, she said. Arturo Chang (new window) · CBC News · Reporter Arturo Chang is a reporter with CBC Manitoba. Before that, he worked for CBC P.E.I. and BNN Bloomberg. You can reach him at
