David Lewis
June 23, 1909 — May 23, 1981 — Svislach, Belarus (born Nowy Swierżeń)
David Lewis was a Canadian politician who served as leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1971 to 1975 — a period in which he held the balance of power in Parliament and used it to push through significant social legislation, while coining the memorable phrase "corporate welfare bums" to describe corporations receiving government subsidies.
From Eastern Europe to Canadian Politics
David Lewis was born on June 23, 1909, in Nowy Swierżeń, then part of the Russian Empire (in present-day Belarus), into a Jewish family. His family emigrated to Canada and settled in Montreal, where Lewis came of age politically in the ferment of Depression-era Canadian socialism. He was a brilliant student — he won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, where he read law and became deeply engaged with the British Labour movement. He returned to Canada committed to building a Canadian social democratic party, and spent decades as one of the key architects of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and its successor, the New Democratic Party (NDP), founded in 1961.
NDP Leadership and the 1972 Election
Lewis was elected NDP leader in 1971 and led the party into the 1972 federal election, which produced a surprising minority result: Pierre Trudeau's Liberals won only 109 seats, barely more than the 107 won by Robert Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives — and Lewis's NDP, with 31 seats, held the balance of power in a hung Parliament. Lewis made his "corporate welfare bums" slogan — attacking corporations that received government grants and tax concessions while ordinary workers were cut adrift — the centerpiece of a campaign that gave the NDP its most significant leverage over federal policy in its history. The NDP supported the Trudeau minority government in exchange for concrete social policy commitments, including the creation of Petro-Canada and improvements to social programs.
Did You Know?
David Lewis's family produced one of Canada's most remarkable political dynasties. His son Stephen Lewis became leader of the Ontario NDP, Ontario's Official Opposition leader, Canada's UN Ambassador, and one of the most prominent advocates for AIDS treatment access in Africa. Stephen's son Avi Lewis became a documentary filmmaker. Stephen's partner Michele Landsberg was one of Canada's leading feminist journalists. The Lewis family's sustained engagement with progressive politics, journalism, and international advocacy over multiple generations stands as a singular example of political commitment and public service in Canadian life.
Legacy in Canadian Social Democracy
Lewis lost his own seat in the 1974 federal election, which brought Trudeau back to a majority government and ended the NDP's period of leverage. He stepped down as party leader shortly afterward. He remained active in Canadian public life until his death on May 23, 1981. His contribution to Canadian social democracy is substantial: he helped build and consolidate both the CCF and the NDP as effective vehicles for left-of-centre politics at the federal level, and his period of holding the balance of power in the early 1970s produced tangible legislative achievements. The phrase "corporate welfare bums" — coined in a different era for a different context — has proved remarkably durable as a description of a recurring political phenomenon that persists to this day.