Whatever surprises the fall election holds, it’s Jagmeet Singh’s party now—for better or worse
The facts of the matter don’t wholly warrant the New Democratic Party’s outward appearances of jubilation now that their leader, Jagmeet Singh, is finally assuming his place in the House of Commons and, at last, the national spotlight. But it is what it is.
So it will be a while yet before we know what Singh’s version of the NDP will look like, and what it will be about exactly, beyond the broad policy strokes that tend to situate the party quite reliably between Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Elizabeth May’s Greens. Further than that, all that can be said is that it’s Singh’s party now.
By the 2015 election, after a decade of Stephen Harper, voters wanted a change, and they wanted it fast. Along came the dashing Trudeau, who swept into power after outflanking Thomas Mulcair’s budget-balancing NDP from the left. More recently, Singh found himself publicly at odds with NDP foreign affairs critic Hélène Laverdière and caucus chair Matthew Dubé on whether Juan Guaidó should be recognized as Venezuela’s interim president. It was another case of not knowing, apparently, what his own party’s position was on a subject of immediate concern in Parliament.
This is all fair enough, and it might make an impression in Quebec, where voters are burdened by a weird aversion to religious symbols like turbans. But there was nothing novel in Burnaby about Singh’s candidacy as a person of colour. In 1972, the voters of what was then a mostly white, working-class constituency—Burnaby–Edmonds—elected the NDP’s Rosemary Brown as their MLA. Brown was the first Black woman elected to a Canadian legislature.
The second incident occurred at an all-candidates meeting, when Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson of Maxime Bernier’s right-wing People’s Party raised the lighting-rod subject of the murder of Burnaby teenager Marrisa Shen. A Syrian refugee has been charged with her murder. Thompson used the case to raise alarms about proper refugee “vetting.” There was a lot of shouting.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jagmeet Singh vows to 'sharpen our message' to reverse NDP woes - Macleans.caPolitics Insider for February 27: Wilson-Raybould prepares to speak, even though she isn't happy with the restrictions she still faces, while Singh plots a turnaround
Read more »
Jagmeet Singh wins a seat - Macleans.caThe NDP leader won the Burnaby South byelection on Monday, regaining his grip on a party that had appeared to be losing faith in him
Read more »
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wins Burnaby South by-election, clearing key hurdle ahead of federal campaignSingh’s victory, which gives him a seat in the House of Commons, will help quell rumblings within the NDP over his future
Read more »
Burnaby election results: Voters send NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to OttawaJagmeet Singh aced perhaps the most important political test of his federal career to date when he won his first parliamentary seat Monday in a Burnaby South byelection.With the sound defeat of his…
Read more »
Politics Briefing: NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wins Burnaby South by-electionPolitics Briefing: NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wins Burnaby South by-election GlobePolitics
Read more »
Jagmeet Singh Downplays Significance Of NDP Losing Mulcair's Old Seat“Outremont was always a difficult riding for us,' the NDP leader says.
Read more »
‘The chatter is over’: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh looks for a fresh start after byelection winSingh’s problems aren’t all behind him: a few of his heavyweight MPs haven’t say if they’ll run again in the next election, and he faces a major obstacle in Quebec
Read more »
Daphne Bramham: Jagmeet Singh lives to fight another dayWith the election looming and the party’s poll numbers and fundraising in the tank, the NDP leader’s first challenge is to prove that he can lead.
Read more »