Junior partners in minority parliaments often fare badly in subsequent elections. This was certainly true for the NDP in the 1960s, 1970s, and now in the new millennium when the party voted with successive minority Liberal governments to win concessions. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh knew what would happen by choosing to work with the Liberals as did Tommy Douglas, David Lewis, and Jack Layton. Douglas won Medicare and pensions, and Lewis and Layton greatly expanded important social programs far beyond what the Liberals would ever have done on their own.

In keeping Justin Trudeau’s minority governments in power, Singh secured the Canadian Dental Care Plan, childcare, the beginnings of Pharmacare, critical support for workers and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other benefits for low- and middle-income Canadians. He knew these gains would cost the party seats – including probably his own – and place the party in short-term difficulty. He was right to take these risks and right to resign on election night – although I will miss him.

The NDP has done well by swiftly appointing veteran MP Don Davies as interim leader. However, the party will very soon need to pick a new permanent leader while simultaneously rebuilding the organization as another election is likely right around the corner. Here’s three things they can do right away.

First, the NDP must immediately stop propping up the Liberals – except for on issues where national sovereignty is threatened. They need to establish this stance soon, perhaps by declaring they will not back Carney’s first budget and using other early voting opportunities to demonstrate independence. This will take nerves of steel as it might trigger an early election, but the NDP’s longer-term survival depends on re-establishing its distinct brand. It will mean abandoning winning concessions from the Liberals, but Singh did enough for the country to earn some leeway from voters to allow time to turn inward and retool. Let the Liberals and Bloc work together if they can.

Second, the party should immediately focus on further modernizing operations – especially communications, fundraising, and voter contact. I know this is doable as I wrote a transition plan for Singh while part of his 2018 leadership bid team. Now that financial support from Parliament is gone with the loss of official party status, NDP MPs will need to annually pool, say, $50,000 each (around 10%) of their member’s office budget as well as a good chunk of their election rebates and local fundraising to enable centralized support services.

Third, the NDP caucus needs to select a small number of target constituencies to win back in the next election – perhaps under ten. This allows each of the seven NDP MPs to use a portion of their time (say four days per month) to travel to target constituencies and rebuild connections with local voters. All constituencies where the party lost incumbents should be on the short list – depending on whether the defeated MP is willing to quickly sign on as the official candidate. MPs should spend less time in the Ottawa bubble and more time in their home and target constituencies – even if it means missing votes in the House of Commons.

It is a tall order for New Democrats to retool after such a hard election especially when the clock is ticking on the next vote. But I’m hopeful. Canada needs the NDP more than ever in these tough times. Over one million voters can’t be wrong!

Kennedy Stewart is an associate professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy and former NDP Member of Parliament (2011-2018) and Mayor of Vancouver (2018-2022)