OTTAWA — Two separate paths to party renewal — and three very different contenders — have emerged as the race to choose the next leader of the federal NDP begins to take shape.

While still in its opening weeks, the contest is already shaping up as a referendum over whether the NDP should double down on courting middle-class moderates or focus its energies on reconnecting with its traditional blue-collar base.

“We’re starting to see two clear visions for the party emerge,” said former NDP strategist Erin Morrison, now a vice-president at Texture Communications. “One’s saying it’s got to be a bigger tent, and one’s saying we have to get back to our core roots of who we are as a party.”

“Those visions are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but they are different in terms of their focus an

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