An internal NDP strategy document adopted by the provincial party says the organization is in crisis. It says membership has dropped by a third over the past 15 years and popular support has been cut almost in half since the mid-1980s.

And while one official says the NDP will have to take some risks if it's ever going to be a significant force in Ontario politics again, the party leader rejects that there's even a crisis.

The provincial council has agreed to hire staff and hold fundraisers instead of cutting back as it usually does between elections. The objective is to rebuild riding organizations across Ontario and retire debt.

Party treasurer Tom Parkin admits the strategy is risky and could fail.

"It's a big gamble," he says.

If, for example, the party doesn't raise enough money, the provincial NDP could be left in worse shape than before.

Parkin says much of the new money will go to the weaker riding associations.

But Parkin does believe there is a positive side to the report.

"A crisis is a turning point. It's a time in a sickness where you either get better or you don't. So a crisis is an opportunity as well," says Parkin, adding the drive to renew the party is coming from the rank and file, not from the nine NDP MPPs at Queen's Park.

"If we're ultimately going to be successful in maintaining a left-of-centre political party, it can't be just based on a small number of seats. It has to have province-wide potential," he says.

Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton says he's pleased with the decision to reinvest in the party, but he doesn't agree there's a crisis.

"I think that following the federal election, there was rhetoric about crisis. I think provincially speaking we're doing quite well," says Hampton.

Hampton says the NDP needs to work on setting the party apart from the Conservative and the Liberals.

"The other part is the issues part," says Hampton.

"What are the issues that we want to put before the public and we want to emphasize?"

One thing the two men do agree on is that the work being done right now is just half the job. They say the Ontario NDP, like its federal wing, has to work on policies and a vision that will appeal to more Canadians than it does right now.