Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton says he wouldn't have suspended union leader Buzz Hargrove's party membership from the Ontario wing.

"I wouldn't have gone down that path," Layton told reporters Monday following a meeting of the party's federal caucus.

"My view is that our focus always is on building our movement."

The Ontario NDP executive voted to suspend the union leader's membership in the wake of his decision to support strategic voting for Liberal candidates in last month's federal election.

Layton said he would have preferred to see a debate on the issue. He dismissed suggestions that the NDP's strained relations with Hargrove throughout the election campaign and up to now have hurt the party's pro-union reputation.

While the federal New Democrats don't agree with the move, "we respect the provincial section of our party," NDP MP Libby Davies said on CTV's Mike Duffy Live.

Davies and Layton's comments bolster Hargrove's earlier suspicions that the NDP leader did not play a role in the decision to suspend him.

Hargrove told Canada AM earlier on Monday that Layton called him on Friday to thank him for his help during the campaign.

"Jack actually (complimented) our union on the role we played in the federal election," Hargrove said.

"(Then) on Saturday, I get this other message, so I don't believe Jack would have been aware that this was taking place."

Hargrove told AM the call came that afternoon without warning from Mike Shields, an executive member-at-large for the provincial wing of the party.

"And he told me they had had this debate and made a decision on a 14-9 vote to expel me. I was shocked -- shocked more by the lack of due process. No charges laid by anyone that I'm aware of. Certainly I was not notified and there was no opportunity for me to make my case."

Some New Democrat MPs have said Hargrove should have had the chance to defend himself before being suspended.

Newly minted Toronto MP Peggy Nash, formerly Hargrove's right-hand person at the Canadian Auto Workers union, acknowledged that the union leader's behaviour "made my life interesting during the campaign, I'll say that much."

"But he was doing what he thought was in the best interests of the CAW membership," Nash added.

"These are things that are open for debate and discussion. We don't expect people to be homogenous in their viewpoints."

Hargrove could reportedly regain his membership if he writes a letter stating he would not endorse candidates from other parties. But, that is something he says he will not do.

"No, I have nothing to apologize for," Hargrove said Sunday on CTV's Newsnet.

"Nine-hundred (CAW) delegates debated this and voted overwhelmingly, over 85 per cent, for this to be the position of our union going into the federal election.

"I defended that and promoted that throughout the campaign. I have no regrets."

During the election campaign, the Canadian Auto Workers president called on his union's members, who traditionally support the NDP, to vote for Liberals in ridings where the NDP was unlikely to win in order to keep the Tories from coming into power.

The NDP's constitution has provisions against endorsing candidates from other parties. Sandra Clifford, the president of the Ontario NDP, said Hargrove had to be punished for his actions.

"We really tried to figure out how we could on the one hand satisfy and deal with the complaints from our members and at the same time try to not alienate those activists in the party who are members of his organization, which is why we didn't expel him outright," she told The Canadian Press.

Hargrove has held a NDP membership card for 41 years and said he has no plans to join the Liberals.

"I'm a socialist," he told AM, adding he feels the party has strayed from its populist roots in the time he has been a member. "I'll be a socialist without a home… the only other party I'd ever join is if there was a party to the left of the NDP."

Hargrove said he has no intention of seeking a political post in the next election and hopes to continue his work with the auto workers until retirement.