Good morning. The NDP is hoping to reverse years of decline when it picks a new party leader this weekend – more on that below, along with the battle over a Rogers estate and a landmark decision in the social media addiction trial. But first:

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Last year’s federal election was not a good time for New Democrats. They nabbed just 6.3 per cent of the popular vote, their worst result since the NDP’s founding back in 1961. They were reduced to seven seats in the House of Commons, also a record low. They lost official party status – 12 MPs are needed – then lost their leader, Jagmeet Singh, who failed to win his B.C. riding and promptly stepped down.

And their fortunes have hardly improved lately. Nunavut MP Lori Idlout left the NDP for the Liberals two weeks ago, nudging Prime Minister Mark Carney even closer to a majority government. In Quebec, Alexandre Boulerice – the party’s only MP east of Manitoba – is openly mulling a jump to provincial politics. Yesterday, Angus Reid released a poll of 1,164 recent NDP voters and found a quarter of them feel the party is irrelevant. Nearly 40 per cent believe its best days are in the past.

New Democrats very much hope to change that belief on Sunday, when the party announces its next leader at a convention in Winnipeg. But the six-months-long race has barely registered among those recent NDP voters: 44 per cent said they don’t recognize the names of any of the five candidates.

There, at least, The Globe can help. We put together a handy cheat sheet to the contenders vying to lead the NDP.

Avi Lewis

CV: Lewis is a climate activist and former TV host who co-authored the no-more-pipelines Leap Manifesto in a bid to move the NDP to the left. He’s the frontrunner in this leadership race, raising more than $1.2-million, though he isn’t a member of Parliament, having mounted two unsuccessful campaigns. His grandfather is former federal NDP leader David Lewis; his father is former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis; his mom is journalist Michele Landsberg; and his wife is author Naomi Klein.

Key policies: Lewis wants Canada to implement a Green New Deal, ending new oil production and investing two per cent of the country’s GDP to fight climate change. He’s proposed government-run grocery stores and building a million public homes to address affordability issues.

Heather McPherson

CV: McPherson is the only leadership candidate with a seat in the House of Commons, representing Edmonton Strathcona since 2019. She has served as the NDP’s deputy house leader, whip and foreign affairs critic, pushing the Liberal government to do more to help Gaza. Before politics, she worked in international development.

Key policies: McPherson wants to build co-op and affordable homes through a federal Crown corporation, create a bill of rights for renters, and ban corporate ownership of single-family homes. She has touted her electoral record of beating Conservatives and pitched a big-tent NDP.

Rob Ashton

CV: Ashton has been a dockworker in Vancouver for more than three decades and is the national president of the International Longshore Workers Union Canada, a position he’s held since 2016. This is his first time running in politics.

Key policies: Ashton wants to triple the amount of public, non-profit and co-op housing in Canada and build dedicated starter homes for first-time buyers. He’s also proposed a national jobs guarantee and giving workers mandatory seats on corporate boards.

Tanille Johnston

CV: Johnston is a social worker and city councillor in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. She’s a member of the We Wai Kai First Nation, the director of programs at the First Nations Health Authority in B.C. and, at 38, the youngest candidate in the leadership race.

Key policies: Johnston wants a guaranteed liveable basic income for Canadians, tuition-free postsecondary education, and an end to fossil fuel subsidies. She believes the country should implement electoral reform in favour of proportional representation instead.

Tony McQuail

CV: McQuail is an organic farmer in southern Ontario’s Huron County who served three terms as a Board of Education trustee there in the 1980s. He’s run in five federal and two provincial elections for the NDP, but has never won.

Key policies: McQuail wants to establish a universal basic income, as well as communal and sustainable housing arrangements. He’s also advocated for a wealth tax, electoral reform, environmental regeneration and non-profit ride share programs to connect rural Canadians.