In OTL, the 1989 NDP leadership race was won by Audrey McLaughlin over Dave Barrett, the former NDP Premier of British Columbia. And as Wikipedia puts it;
"During the campaign, Barrett argued that the party should be concerned with Western alienation, rather than focusing its attention on Quebec. The Quebec leadership of the NDP strongly opposed Barrett's candidacy, and future Quebec MP Phil Edmonston threatened to resign from the party if Barrett became leader.[9]"
"Some have felt that Barrett would have made a more effective leader than McLaughlin, since the NDP had long been the voice of western discontent, but the party had never had much of a presence in Quebec. In 1989, the New Democratic Party of Quebec adopted a sovereigntist platform and severed its ties with the federal NDP. Although Edmonston would win the NDP its first seat in Quebec through a by-election, he was a Quebec nationalist who clashed with the party over its position on Canadian federalism and against decentralization and devolving powers to Quebec. Barrett's warnings about Western alienation would prove prophetic in the 1993 federal election, as the Reform Party replaced the NDP as the protest voice west of Ontario."
So what if Barrett had won?
"During the campaign, Barrett argued that the party should be concerned with Western alienation, rather than focusing its attention on Quebec. The Quebec leadership of the NDP strongly opposed Barrett's candidacy, and future Quebec MP Phil Edmonston threatened to resign from the party if Barrett became leader.[9]"
"Some have felt that Barrett would have made a more effective leader than McLaughlin, since the NDP had long been the voice of western discontent, but the party had never had much of a presence in Quebec. In 1989, the New Democratic Party of Quebec adopted a sovereigntist platform and severed its ties with the federal NDP. Although Edmonston would win the NDP its first seat in Quebec through a by-election, he was a Quebec nationalist who clashed with the party over its position on Canadian federalism and against decentralization and devolving powers to Quebec. Barrett's warnings about Western alienation would prove prophetic in the 1993 federal election, as the Reform Party replaced the NDP as the protest voice west of Ontario."
So what if Barrett had won?