Prairie NDPs Wary of Federal Party's Revival

It's March 28th. Toronto News Today starts now. AI-powered and ready. I'm Cory with the story.

Federal New Democrats gathered in Winnipeg for their leadership convention,

but Prairie Provincial Leaders seem wary of getting too close.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kainu took the stage Friday and repeated that a strong federal NDP means a strong Canada,

hyping a victory as the parties.

Future. Still, the federal party is hurting bad, down to just six seats in the House of Commons,

deep in dead, and polls calling it irrelevant.

Sources close to Manitoba's NDP say the provincial crew has kept the federal wing at arms length for years,

especially after Jagmeet Singh's worst, election ever last year.

Federal candidates struggle to get MLA endorsements, voter data, or even permission to use Kainu's image.

Provincial folks were told to skip photos with Singh to avoid bad vibes rubbing off.

These riffs are front and center in the leadership race.

Alberta NDP boss Nahid Nenshi, pushing pro pipeline policies, urged candidates not to mess with his provincial win next year,

he's even led members. Opt out of federal membership.

Candidates like Heather McPherson and Avi Lewis are pitching prairie smarts, but ideology clashes linger.

Experts call the NDP's setup, unique joining provincial automatically hooks you to federal, unlike other parties.

Provincial NDPs are riding high in power or opposition, so they're cautious on bold ideas to not scare voters,

while federal stays sidelined.

As votes wrap up in Winnipeg, Kainu dodged media questions after posing with Singh.

This push pull shows how prairie success might reshape the federal parties path forward.