The new leader of the federal NDP has a personal understanding of some of the challenges faced in the Royal City, says New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian.
Jagmeet Singh, a 38-year-old provincial NDP politician from Ontario, was elected as the federal NDP’s new leader on Sunday.
“It’s a very, very clear new type of leadership. Very dynamic. Very energetic. He was able to inspire tens of thousands of people to join our party over the last four months,” Julian said. “What I see under his leadership is continued growth for the NDP. There’s a lot of excitement in certain areas of the country.”
Julian, who sought to be the NDP leader but bowed out of the race after failing to raise enough money, endorsed Singh as leader, after seeing the “incredible excitement” he was generating across the country, including the Lower Mainland. New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy also endorsed Singh.
A video of Singh’s calm response to a heckler at a campaign event in September has been viewed more than 35 million times online.
“He is somebody who wants to change the country for the better, coming from the poverty that he experienced as a child. I think it’s really important when we look at some of the issues we are seeing in New Westminster and across the Lower Mainland – a housing crisis, an affordability crisis, which means many people are either on the street or in danger of losing their homes, and he understands that. He understands and wants to make those changes,” Julian said. “When we contrast it with the federal government, Mr. Trudeau is a nice guy, but comes from a very wealthy background and doesn’t have that same understanding of what regular families are going through. Certainly, my sense is here in Ottawa, the Liberals understand that this is a game changer.”
Julian anticipates the 2019 federal election campaign will be “very interesting” with Singh at the helm of the NDP.
“No doubt,” he said when asked if Singh would be visiting New Westminster in the future. “I think that’s just a matter of time.”
