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NDP’s Singh focusing on affordable housing 'national crisis' in 2019, as he readies for byelection fight

It’s been a shaky year for the NDP leader but he tells the Post he’s confident he will win his byelection and finally take a seat in Parliament

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OTTAWA — After more than a year spent outside the House of Commons, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will soon get his chance to win a seat and take on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau face-to-face.

Trudeau is expected to announce a long-awaited byelection for early February in Burnaby South, where Singh was nominated in September. Singh says he’s feeling confident, though he concedes it’ll be a tough race, with the Liberals planning to nominate a candidate.

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But it’s been a shaky year for the NDP leader, who won the leadership in October 2017. Several veteran MPs have decided they won’t seek re-election next year, most recently B.C. MP Fin Donnelly, who made his announcement over the weekend. Several others have yet to make up their minds.

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The party has only just started nominating candidates for the next election, with two confirmed over the weekend. Including incumbents, the party has 18 candidates nominated. The NDP has also been polling a distant third behind the Liberals and Conservatives, and has had trouble fundraising.

Still, the federal leader insists his party is in the corner of everyday Canadians. Singh sat down with the National Post’s Maura Forrest to talk about the challenges he’s faced, why veteran MPs are throwing in the towel, and why affordable housing is his top priority heading into 2019. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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MF: This hasn’t been an easy year for you. How do you see this past year and what is the one message, looking forward to 2019, you want Canadians to hear from the NDP?

JS: It hasn’t been the easiest year. There’s lots of work that we still have to do. But if there’s one thing I want people to know in 2019, it’s that we see you, we feel you. People are worried about the future. There’s a lot of fear and uncertainty around housing. I think that’s the biggest thing that I hear across Canada, and not just in Vancouver and Toronto. I was in Langford on Vancouver Island, and I was speaking with a bunch of young people, and I was asking them about their concerns. One kid mentioned homelessness. Then a second student mentioned affordable housing, then a third student did. Then I stopped the discussion. I said, “Wait a second. How many of you are concerned about housing?” And almost every student stood up. And then it hit home. The fact that so many kids are worried about housing really drives home that it’s truly a national crisis. We’re not seeing any action on that, and that’s just not good enough. What we need to do instead is invest immediately in co-operative housing and non-market housing. And so there are struggles that people are going through. I see them, I feel them, and I want folks to know that we will be in their corner.

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MF: What has been your single biggest challenge over the last year?

JS: One major challenge has been that there’s so much insecurity and fear and frustration that people are feeling that it’s been hard to respond to that fear with a detailed plan. I wish I could be able to address all the concerns that I’m seeing, from job losses in Oshawa to the housing crisis to the fact that millions of Canadians don’t have access to medication. I know that people are in a tough time, and I wish I could have better solutions for people immediately.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will addresses his staff in Ottawa on Dec. 4, 2018.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will addresses his staff in Ottawa on Dec. 4, 2018. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/File

MF: You’re looking toward an election year but, at the same time, you keep losing people. Why does this keep happening?

JS: I think part of it is that there’s a lot of folks in our caucus that have sacrificed a lot of their life in public office. And so while we thank them for their hard work and respect how much time they spent, I’m really excited about the new folks that have put forward their names, and folks that have represented us before that are coming back. Over the past weekend we had Andrew Cash, who was (formerly) the MP for Davenport. He’s our first Toronto-area candidate nominated. And then the same day in Hamilton, we had a nomination meeting for Matthew Green, who’s a prominent city councillor.

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MF: But isn’t it possible current MPs are reading the tea leaves and not liking the way things are looking for the next election?

JS: Almost everyone has mentioned it right when I started that they were planning on not presenting again. And a lot of them are folks that endorsed me during the leadership, so they support my leadership and support me. So I think really it’s the fact that they’ve spent a lot of time and it’s a big sacrifice being away from home.

MF: I want to talk about the UN migration pact (which 164 countries have signed, including Canada). We saw protests in different parts of the country over the weekend. I’m curious what you make of how controversial this has become.

JS: It’s very concerning that something that is not binding, that does not impact our legislation, has been falsely promoted as a problem using inaccurate information, particularly by (Conservative Leader) Andrew Scheer. That, to me, is deeply troubling. He ought to know that this is not binding, and he’s been claiming that it would undermine sovereignty. That is wrong. Using something that you know is not true to instil fear in Canadians is wrong. We should be finding ways to bring people together, to address people’s concerns, instead of using tactics of fear and division.

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MF: You’ve got your own byelection coming up in Burnaby South. The Liberals now say they are going to run a candidate against you. Are you expecting they’re going to give you a run for your money?

JS: I’m confident we’ll do well. I’m confident we’ll win. And I know it’s going to be a hard byelection. I’m not worried about it being a hard byelection. I know that people are counting on us, and we need to work hard for the people that are counting on us. Burnaby is probably one of the ridings which is hardest hit with the housing crisis, and folks are really disappointed in the inaction of the federal government.

MF: What are your plans over the break?

JS: I had a knee surgery right after I became leader. I used to snowboard a lot, and I haven’t snowboarded in years (because of my knee). And I’m really looking forward to snowboarding. If I have a little bit of time, I’ll be on the slopes.

• Email: mforrest@postmedia.com | Twitter:

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