The New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus proudly announced on July 7 the nomination of Yves Engler, a distinguished Montreal-based author and activist, as its candidate for federal NDP leader. Engler brings to the contest a fearless commitment to global peace, democratic accountability, workers’ rights and socialism.
Born in Vancouver in 1979 to union-organizer parents who were deeply rooted in political activism, Engler learned early that social change demands hard work and struggle. Engler has authored twelve critically acclaimed books—including Stand on Guard for Whom? A People’s History of the Canadian Military and Canada in Haiti: Waging War Against the Poor Majority—expanding public understanding of Canada’s foreign policy and its impact on working people and oppressed communities.
Engler, a founder of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, resides in Montreal with his partner, Bianca Mugyenyi, and their two children. Yves is fluent in French and English.
Engler embodies a robust, left-wing commitment to democratic socialism. He understands the necessity of structural transformation: affordable public housing, universal pharmacare, indigenous self-determination, closing tax havens that hide billions for Canada’s super rich, and fostering worker-owned cooperatives to further economic democracy. He also advocates public ownership and democratic workers’ control of critical sectors, including auto, banking, and public utilities, to ensure that public benefit, not private profit, is at the heart of Canada’s economy.
“Forty years of failed neo-liberal policies like corporate “free trade,” privatization and deregulation have led to wage stagnation, radically growing inequality, homelessness, and social programs increasingly at risk,” says Engler. “It’s time for the NDP to take on unmitigated corporate power and fight for a democratic economy that puts workers first. We stand for the billions, not the billionaires.”
Engler’s critique of Canadian militarism is at the forefront of his activism. In 2005, he poured symbolic fake blood onto Minister Pierre Pettigrew to condemn Canada’s role in Haiti’s 2004 coup and subsequent occupation—an action that garnered both widespread attention and provoked Canadian political scrutiny.
He has systematically dismantled the myth of Canada as benevolent peacekeeper, instead documenting the many ways Ottawa’s military and corporate interests align with those of Washington and US business interests, and have undermined peace globally. Engler’s leadership would position the NDP as a global voice for freedom and international solidarity.
“Yves Engler is exactly the leader Canada’s NDP needs: fearless, principled, and unapologetically socialist,” said Socialist Caucus chair Barry Weisleder. “He represents everything we stand for—workers’ rights, democracy, peace, and environmental justice. We call on all NDP members who believe the party must return to its democratic socialist roots to support Yves Engler in this leadership race.”
Engler emphasizes the need for greater democracy in the labour-based NDP — from policy development to candidate selection—ensuring that the party remains rooted in working class communities, not just functioning as a broadcast from central party headquarters.
The Socialist Caucus endorses Engler because he embodies its enduring project: pushing the NDP away from corporate rule and towards its socialist roots. Engler has repeatedly challenged party leadership—whether on the Zionist genocide in Palestine, Canada’s complicity in Haiti, or fossil-fuel expansion—and urges rank-and-file members to reclaim the NDP from within. His campaign commits to reinvigorating NDP district associations, ratcheting up policy debate, and ensuring the party is managed by working people, not by elitist public relations lobbyists.
As a participant in the labour movement, Engler recognized that a revitalized NDP must prioritize legislation including: binding sectoral collective bargaining, stronger anti-scab laws, enforcement of pay equity, paid sick leave, and a $25/hour minimum wage indexed to inflation.
Under Yves Engler, an NDP government would champion:
- Foreign policy based on solidarity—No complicity with imperialist wars or weapons trade, full support for Palestinian liberation, and withdrawal of Canada from NATO and Canadian troops from interventions in Haiti, Ukraine, and elsewhere.
- Democratic socialism in practice—Public ownership and democratic control of strategic industries, robust and well-funded public services (healthcare, childcare, eldercare), and recognition of unions as partners in economic planning.
- Freedom of expression and civil rights—Protection for political speech, an end to government surveillance of peaceful activists, and the elimination of criminal sanctions for public dissent.
- Environmental justice and workers’ rights—Just transition away from fossil fuels with retraining programs for workers, infrastructure investment in renewable industries, and strong labour protections in every sector.
Praise for Engler has come from across progressive movements. Briarpatch Magazine called him “one of the most important voices on the Canadian Left.” Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Rick Salutin have praised his investigative rigor and principled stance.
The Socialist Caucus invites all New Democrats—especially those who feel their values are no longer reflected in the party—to unite behind Yves Engler’s leadership bid. It is time to build an NDP that speaks for working families, challenges corporate power, rejects imperialism, and upholds democracy and socialism.
Contact Information: New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus 647.986.1917
info@ndpsocialists.ca ndpsocialists.ca yvesforndpleader@gmail.com
About the Socialist Caucus
The Socialist Caucus is an organized network within the NDP, dedicated to advancing democratic socialism, party rank and file democracy, labour solidarity, social justice, and feminist internationalism. Founded in 1998, it consistently promotes anti‑capitalist, pro‑working‑class, and anti‑imperialist policies.
