Avram David "Avi" Lewis (born May 1967) is a Canadian activist,

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker, former host of the

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show '' Fault Lines'' and former host of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

(CBC) current-affairs programs '' CounterSpin'' and ''On the Map''. He is currently an associate professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. Lewis was the NDP candidate for Vancouver Centre in the

2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...

and in West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country in the

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The Writ of election, writs of election were issued by Governor General of ...

, losing both times.

Biography

Family

Avi Lewis is the great-grandson of Moshe Losz (Lewis), an outspoken member of the Jewish Bund who left Svislach,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(absorbed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during World War II, and today in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

), after being interrogated by the Russians and threatened with death or the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

for his political activity, he left for

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1921, with his wife Rose ( ''née'' Lazarovitch) and three children. Avi Lewis is the grandson of former federal

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

leader David Lewis and the son of former Ontario NDP leader and diplomat

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s and was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democr ...

and journalist

Michele Landsberg Michele Landsberg Order of Canada, OC, (born 12 July 1939) is a Canadian journalist, author, public speaker, feminist and activism, social activist. She is known for writing three bestselling books, including ''Women and Children First'', ''This ...

. Avi Lewis is married to journalist and author Naomi Klein; his sister Ilana Landsberg-Lewis was the executive director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Lewis grew up in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, and attended Jarvis Collegiate and

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as Canada's most prestigious preparatory school, and ha ...

. He graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1988. Lewis was featured on the November 20, 2001, "Life & Times" episode of ''The Lewis Family''. Avi Lewis's genealogical search was featured on the January 31, 2008, episode of the CBC's '' Who Do You Think You Are?''

Career

Between 1996 and 1998, Avi Lewis was host of '' The NewMusic'', a music magazine show on MuchMusic and

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

. He also served as MuchMusic's political specialist — by doing extensive special events coverage for the channel designed to engage youth in the political process. Among other events, he covered the

1993 Canadian federal election The 1993 Canadian federal election was held on October 25, 1993, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 35th Canadian Parliament, 35th Parliament of Canada. Considered to be a major political realignment, it ...

and the 1995 Quebec referendum. Avi Lewis won a Gemini for Best Event Coverage. In 1998–2001, Lewis hosted CBC Newsworld's current affairs discussion show '' counterSpin'', where he presided over 500 debates. Avi Lewis was later the host of ''Counterspin'' Sunday. In 2004, Lewis and his wife Naomi Klein collaborated on '' The Take'' — a documentary that detailed the " recovered factory" movement in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. ''The Take'', winner of the International Jury Prize, was nominated for four

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

s. Lewis began hosting CBC Newsworld's ''The Big Picture with Avi Lewis'' in the autumn of 2006 and ''On the Map'' in 2007. He became host of Frontline USA for

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

television in 2008. Lewis was a participant in the CBC's ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

'' 2009 (''see'' below). Lewis directed the 2015 feature-length documentary '' This Changes Everything'', which finished second in the audience voting, for the documentary category, at the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and N ...

''On the Map''

In June 2007, CBC Newsworld debuted ''On the Map with Avi Lewis'', a daily (Monday-Thursday) half-hour of international news commentary. Lewis discussed such issues as the " Oil Law" that the United States wished

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

to adopt, women in Afghanistan, and what exactly is meant by the phrase "ungoverned spaces". The show was officially renewed for November 2007 and then disappeared without ever airing again. ''On the Maps half-hour time slot was replaced with a half-hour summary of the daily hour-long show ''

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

'' by Don Newman. During the same time period, '' The Hour'', which had a mix of news commentary and pop culture and provided a lighter fare than ''On the Map'', became decidedly more oriented to pop culture - even though there has been some creep towards greater news commentary as the season progressed. George Stroumboulopoulos stated during the opening show, that the modification of format was because ''The Hour'' would now be shown right after '' The National'' (rather than before in previous seasons) when shown on the CBC main channel. Lewis conducted a June 11, 2007,

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" re ...

with political writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali. After repeatedly and openly sniggering at Hirsi Ali's complimentary remarks about the United States, Lewis sharply questioned some of her views - including her denial of the existence of

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

, her belief that Islam was inherently

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practis ...

, and her positive opinions concerning American democracy. Lewis compared Islamophobia to

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, seeing both as equally real, to which Ali replied: "

Racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

is a universal trait, so is antisemitism, by the way. But I want us not to confuse a set of beliefs such as Islam, with ethnicity such as the hatred against Jews just because they are Jews, or against blacks just because they are black, or against gays just because of- it's something you can't do anything about. Whereas Islam is simply a set of beliefs, and it's not Islamophobic to say ... this is being done in the name of your religion." The interview provoked a strongly critical response from right-wing commentators in the US and Canada. Lewis has stated that

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

's actions do not match his rhetoric and has criticized Chávez for not doing more to close down the "laboratory" of policies which he had inherited from previous administrations. Naomi Klein, who credited Avi Lewis for his input into her book '' The Shock Doctrine'', links both stifling of dissent and concentration of power with the implementation of these earlier economic policies.

''Why Democracy?''

From October 8–18, 2007, Avi Lewis hosted the ten-part international documentary series '' Why Democracy?'' in Canada.

''Frontline USA'' / ''Inside USA''

''Inside USA'' was first telecast on

on February 8, 2008, with the episode "Politics of Race".

describes ''Inside USA'' as "an in-depth look at the real issues at stake in the US presidential election." ''Politics Of Race'' (February 22, 2008) focused on the situation in New Orleans and the disenfranchising of Black voters. ''Native Americans'' (March 1, 2008) focused on Lakota Sioux

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

, social and economic issues surrounding the Lakota Sioux,

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

and the

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

peoples. The last few minutes were devoted to the role online videos play in the American election - including a clip from "Yes We Can".

''Canada Reads''

Lewis was a panelist in the CBC's ''

'', which aired on March 2–6, 2009. ''Canada Reads'' is a seasonal show in which celebrities choose a book and advocate on its behalf. He presented, and successfully defended, the winning book, Lawrence Hill's '' The Book of Negroes''.

Leap Manifesto

In September 2015, Lewis, Naomi Klein, and others launched the Leap Manifesto - which proposed broad changes to Canadian society and economics in order to respond to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

through a policy framework that also addresses issues of wealth and income inequality, racism, and colonialism and in hopes of influencing the policy debate during the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign. In 2016, Lewis spearheaded a motion at the New Democratic Party of Canada's federal election which would have had the party endorse the manifesto - in the end, the motion was amended to refer the manifesto to constituency associations for debate. Lewis and other manifesto signatories launched an organization to promote the manifesto's vision in 2017, called The Leap, which operated until 2021 and was a key convenor of Canada's Pact for a Green New Deal in 2019.

Electoral politics

In May 2021, Lewis was nominated as the NDP's candidate for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

for the

, which was subsequently called for September 20, 2021. Lewis' run for federal parliament was endorsed by environmentalist David Suzuki, actress

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...

, playwright Eve Ensler, folk singer and activist

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

, and biologist Alexandra Morton. He came in third behind incumbent Liberal Patrick Weiler who has represented the riding since 2019 and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

John Weston, who had previously represented the district from 2008 until 2015. In September 2024, Lewis was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in Vancouver Centre for the

, he lost placing third. Lewis supports shifting the NDP further to the left. He was speculated as a potential candidate in the 2017 NDP leadership race, but declined to run. He has also endorsed and campaigned for several progressive candidates in internal NDP elections. Including Anjali Appadurai in the 2022 BC NDP leadership race and Sandra Sousa in the

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Davenport NDP nomination race.

Electoral record

References

External links

CBC Digital Archives – Avi Lewis, Canada Reads advocate
*
100 Days of Resistance: Al Jazeera’s Avi Lewis Reports from Honduras
- video report by ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Avi 1967 births Living people Canadian television journalists Film directors from Toronto Jewish Canadian journalists Journalists from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Upper Canada College alumni Avi Canadian people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Canadian political journalists People from the Sunshine Coast Regional District Jewish Canadian film people New Democratic Party candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election New Democratic Party candidates in the 2025 Canadian federal election British Columbia candidates for Member of Parliament Place of birth missing (living people)