NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh attempting again to convince progressive voters to look his way

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spent months helping stave off a snap election, but now he’s off to the races, in a campaign triggered by a new Liberal prime minister who is banking on the leadership switch-up being enough to satiate progressive voters looking for change.

Now, the lead New Democrat has to navigate slipping support for his party, a nationwide appetite for a strong defender to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, and selling voters on the need to protect relatively new social supports such as dental and pharmacare.

Singh made his first big pre-election pitch to voters in September 2024, a week and a half before the fall sitting began, when he shocked the federal political scene – and then-prime minister Justin Trudeau – when he pulled his party out of the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement.

In a campaign-style video posted on social media declaring the move, Singh said he was severing ties with the governing party because the Liberals were “too weak” to stop Conservative cuts, and only the NDP would be “fighting for you.”

Singh to campaign on protecting progressive policies

The two-party pact was first signed in March 2022, and was set to expire in June 2025 ahead of the next fixed election date. The deal was designed to inject stability into the minority Parliament, with the NDP agreeing to support the Liberals on confidence votes in exchange for progress on longstanding progressive policies.

Singh immediately faced pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to help him trigger an early election, but after vowing to consider each vote on its merits, the New Democrats voted to help keep Trudeau’s embattled minority in power time after time.

Challenged on this repeatedly, Singh asserted that as much as he felt the Liberals were falling short, he wasn’t interested in sparking a federal election that polling at the time indicated would be Poilievre’s to lose.

It was only after the Liberals became embroiled in an internal battle that culminated in Trudeau’s resignation that Singh said he was ready to vote down the Liberals, regardless of who was at the helm. That chance for Singh’s assertion to be tested, is now gone.

Now, despite ripping up the deal, Singh will be campaigning on many of the policies and programs advanced under it.

Those include a major expansion of free Canadian health care through a national dental care program, and the first phase of a national pharmacare policy promising free contraceptives and diabetes medications. The two parties also worked together to pass an early learning and child-care act, anti-scab legislation, sustainable job protections, and paid sick leave for federally-regulated workers.

Singh’s early adversity, in life and politics

Born in Scarborough, Ont. to immigrant parents, Singh has also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, Windsor, Ont., London, Ont., and the Greater Toronto Area.

He has described his mother as the biggest influence on his life, and has spoken candidly about his father’s health and struggles with alcoholism and how that put him in a caretaker position for his younger brother Gurratan.In his 2019 autobiography, “Love and Courage,” Singh spoke about the experience that have shaped his worldview, such as incidents of bullying and racism in grade school, as well as the abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of a martial arts coach.

Before stepping on to the federal scene, the self-described human rights activist graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and worked as a lawyer, before becoming an Ontario NDP MPP in 2011.

His time at Queen’s Park lasted until 2017, when he threw his hat in the ring and went on to win the NDP leadership to replace Tom Mulcair on the first ballot.

In 2018 he married his wife, entrepreneur Gurkiran, after inviting media to cover his proposal. Singh and his wife had their first daughter, Anhad in 2022 and welcomed their second, Dani in 2023.

Singh led his from outside the House of Commons – much to the chagrin of some longtime New Democrats – until 2019, when he secured a seat in the Burnaby South, B.C. byelection.

“We made history today,” Singh told supporters at a byelection victory party. “When I was growing up as a kid, I could’ve never imagined someone like me ever running to be prime minister. Guess what? We just told a lot of kids out there: ‘Yes, you can.‘”

Since moving across the country, the avid cyclist has spoken about how well-suited he feels he is for the West Coast lifestyle.

He continues to leverage what many have regarded as a strength – his ability to connect with younger voters though his sizeable social media following – to get his message out.

Singh says voters ‘ready for better’

In the 2021 federal election the NDP leader leaned heavily on pointing to what New Democrats were able to negotiate in the last minority Parliament, while pitching a message of hope for a better future. His party came out of that race with only one more seat than they had before.

As Singh looks to minimize the bleeding of left-of-centre voter support to the Liberals this time, he’s banking on his plan to campaign on the idea that Canadians are “ready for better,” than a party that promised change and, in the NDP’s view, only followed through on certain planks of it because of their party.

One way Singh is trying to tailor this message about the risk of Conservative cuts to the current time, is by re-framing Trump’s threat of annexing Canada to get voters to think about the impacts such an action would have on health care.

“When Donald Trump is talking about the 51st state, he’s saying that he wants Canada to be more like America. He wants to replace our Canadian health-care system with an American health-care system,” said Singh to an audience of about 150 health-care workers and researchers in Ottawa in February. “To that we say: hell no.”

Recently asked by reporters about his party’s lagging poll numbers, Singh said he “absolutely” thinks he’s still the best person to lead the party.

If the results of this election result in stagnant growth, or potentially seat losses in light of several incumbents not running for re-election, it’s possible his party will have something to say about whether that’s still the case.

Five questions with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

What has inspired you this year?

The Canada Dental Care Program the NDP created really took off in the past year. About 3.5 million people have that dental care card in their wallet already. I got to visit a dentist’s office in Ottawa and I met Sue — I’ve talked about her before because she definitely made a mark on my heart. She is a strong cancer survivor, but chemo took her teeth. She showed the dentist and denturist a photo of herself with the great smile she lost, and asked if the card was really going to give her back her smile. The dentist said yes, and the tears of joy on Sue’s face have been living in my head rent-free. I think about Sue when I’m thinking about who I’m doing this for – it’s for Sue, and millions of everyday people like her that wouldn’t have a champion if it weren’t for the NDP.

What was the last book you’ve read?

I always have several books going at the same time. I just had a little guilty pleasure re-read of my favourite childhood fantasy series, “The Wheel of Time,” by Robert Jordan. I’m finishing up Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo” in French. And this week, I finished “Untethered Sky,” by Fonda Lee — she’s an amazing Canadian author writing about people who dedicate their lives to fighting monsters.

What is your drink of choice?

Tonica, made by a women-owned business in Toronto.

What is your favourite made-in-Canada product?

I’m buying 100 per cent Canadian as much as possible – we all are right now, right? I have to say my all-time favourite is a Canadian-made orange winter coat that Marlene from Nunavut embroidered with “NDP” and, in Inuktitut: working for the people.

Who do you call first with good news?

My wife, Gurkiran, without a doubt. Whether we’re in the same city or on opposite coasts, we call each other several times a day to talk and to get and give that love and support that only comes from your beloved. I’m a phone call guy – not just texts – so I’m going to make follow-up calls, too. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by good friends and family so after I talk to Gurkiran, I probably call my brother, my parents, folks in my NDP family and MP team, and friends like my buddy Mo.