David Lewis, Socialist Member of Parliament from Toronto, was elected here yesterday as the leader of the New Democratic Party, Canada’s third largest political organization. He defeated James Laxer, Marxist-Socialist head of the party’s radical wing, by a 1,046-612 vote on the fourth ballot, becoming the first Jewish leader of a Canadian federal party. The 61-year-old Lewis. a prominent labor lawyer and politician for 30 years, came to Canada five decades ago with his Polish Jewish parents. He has been deputy leader of the NDP since 1961 and was first elected to the House of Commons in 1962. His son Stephen was recently elected president of the Ontario NDP.
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