[6] The Leap Manifesto includes 15 points under the slogan of calling "for a Canada based on caring for each other and the planet, moving swiftly to a post-carbon future, upholding Indigenous rights, and pursuing economic justice for all."

The purpose of the summit was to bring together dozens of representatives from various sectors, such as labour unions, environmental organizations, and Indigenous rights advocates, from across the country to read, discuss, and re-shape the draft through a collaborative process.

Those involved in the process noted that it was non-partisan and that the work was inspired by the perceived unwillingness of Canadian political parties to engage meaningfully with the climate crisis, particularly in a way that also addressed issues of economic inequality and racism.

[2][11] Initial signatories included environmentalists David Suzuki and Maude Barlow; then-president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Paul Moist; Indigenous rights advocate Melina Laboucan-Massimo; former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis; actors Donald Sutherland, Rachel McAdams, Elliot Page, and Sarah Polley; writer/director Patricia Rozema; musicians Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Gord Downie, Sarah Harmer, and Alanis Morissette; and writers William Gibson and Michael Ondaatje, among others.

[14] In reality, NDP leader Tom Mulcair distanced the party from the manifesto and instead ran a moderate, "pragmatic" campaign that included promises to balance the budget and effectively perpetuate austerity.

[18] This made the manifesto a significant point of debate at the party's 2016 national convention, which took place in April in Edmonton, Alberta, where the year before a New Democratic government had been elected for the first time.

[19] The convention included a resolution that the NDP recognize the manifesto as a "high-level statement of principles that speaks to the aspirations, history and values of the party," and that its specific policy proposals be discussed at the riding level across the country to be adapted to local needs.

[24][25] In the aftermath of the convention the NDP put a summer deadline on riding-level discussions of the Leap Manifesto, which some, like Lukacs, argued was tantamount to sabotaging the resolution.

[32][33] The Leap was also involved in organizing around the Green New Deal, a proposed economic stimulus program to address the climate crisis alongside inequality, in both the United States and Canada.

"[42] While analysts from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a backgrounder alongside the manifesto outlining how its proposals could be funded, some more moderate commentators warned of potential consequences for measures like raising new sources of taxation revenue.

[12][21] Former New Democrat and co-founder of The Waffle, James Laxer, was also critical of the manifesto, arguing that it prioritized the climate crisis, and in particular the shuttering of extractive industries, ahead of the economic concerns of the working class.

[43] Lawrence Martin, meanwhile, compared the association of the manifesto with the NDP to the Waffle, and suggested that it was moving the party backwards and into unelectability, "returning to... days when it didn't even pretend to be a serious contender for the prize of governance.