New Democrats are gathering for a three-day policy convention in Hamilton.
Their focus is convincing voters looking for change that they are a better choice than Conservatives, even after having worked to help keep the minority Liberal government in power.
This is the first convention for the N-D-P since it signed a confidence-and-supply agreement with the minority Liberal government, and the first one held in person in five years.
N-D-P Leader Jagmeet Singh will also face his first leadership review since the 2021 election.
Party organizers are hoping to carve out a strategy to gain more seats in the federal election by focusing on affordability issues and where they can take on the Conservatives.
But there could end up being an emergency resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict that could distract from other policies, even though an earlier resolution on Israel and the Palestinian territories did not make it to the priority list before this weekend's deadly attack by Hamas.
Karl Belanger was a longtime senior adviser with the N-D-P.
He says leadership needs to find a way to resolve this issue and move on, because Canadians are not going to vote for, or against, the N-D-P based on its position on the Middle East.
He says if they're not able to figure out a way to move on from the crisis of the day, they will not be able to provide their message to the electorate.