‘Sellout Singh’: Oppn targets NDP’s Jagmeet for propping up Trudeau govt
Conservative Party has launched attack ads targeting Jagmeet Singh for propping up the minority Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Toronto
Canada’s principal opposition Conservative Party has launched attack ads targeting New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh for propping up the minority Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The ads, which have been released online, brand the Indo-Canadian NDP chief as “Sellout Singh”.
“Jagmeet Singh sold you out and signed on with Trudeau in a costly coalition to raise taxes, crime, and housing costs. Sellout Singh gets his pension, and you pay the price,” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre posted on X.
According to the agency Canadian Press, the NDP has described the ads as a “dishonest personal attack”.
Singh will be eligible for the pension that Poilievre alluded to if he remains an MP in the House of Commons till next year. He was first elected MP from the riding (as constituencies are called in Canada) of Burnaby South in British Columbia in February 2019 and was re-elected to the House in the national elections in 2021. He became the leader of the NDP in 2017.
While the Trudeau-led government has grown increasingly unpopular particularly over cost-of-living issues, including shelter affordability, it has survived courtesy a “supply and confidence agreement” it entered into with the NDP in March 2022. While Singh has criticised the government frequently, he has shown no indication of wanting to annul that agreement thereby potentially resulting in mid-term elections prior to the scheduled October 2025 date.
That support was a theme of the attack ads, as they said, “Now he’s got a problem: he needs to delay the election till next year till he qualifies for his $2 million pension.”
It also used media reports to paint Singh as living a lavish lifestyle, from having gone to private school in the United States where the annual tuition was between Canadian dollars 26,000 and Canadian dollars 34,000 annually, to owning two Rolex watches, driving a BMW and carrying Versace bags. Both partners are struggling in polling. According to a recent survey released by the agency Nanos last week, if elections were held now, the Conservatives would get 41% of the vote, modelled to over 225 seats. The Liberals would secure 26% support with less than 70 seats and the NDP 17% or 20 seats.
In the election prior to Singh’s leadership, the NDP had 44 seats in the House and nearly 20% vote share. In 2021, both those numbers were markedly lower – with 25 NDP MPs elected and a vote share of approximately 18%. It’s on track for a poorer performance in the next election.
