Jagmeet Singh becomes First Canadian Political Leader of colour after final NDP Leadership Debate

“Canadians deserve the kind of government that only New Democrats can deliver … that gets the job done, that keeps its promises. That’s why today I’m officially launching my campaign to be the next prime minister of Canada.” These were some of the sentiments uttered by Jagmeet Singh as he emerged victorious in the New Democratic Party leadership race. Outcompeting leadership rivals Niki Ashton, Guy Caron, and Charlie Angus, at 38, Singh has become both the youngest leader of the NDP and the first person of colour to lead a major political party in Canada. According to Global News, he obtained 53.8% of the vote among eligible members, with 35,266 on As a graduate student in public policy at the University of Toronto, I was given the opportunity to attend the party’s final leadership debates organized by Huffington Post Canada, where I witnessed the sorts of politics and issues he would bring to the voters as leader. The audience itself was heavily comprised of young people, or millennials, who will reportedly be considered a significant voter demographic in the election in 2019. In this respect, Mr. Singh himself has seemingly cultivated an appealing image with this group of voters. From my perspective, much excitement and intrigue radiated for his candidacy among the colleagues of my graduate program, along with students from different schools such as Ryerson and York University. The questions directed toward each candidate were complex and tough, which was enthusiastically acknowledged by a few of my program colleagues. They cut across a wide variety of policy areas including Indigenous issues and foreign policy. Regarding Canadian policy on Israel, Mr. Singh noted that “we cannot conflate criticism with a government’s policies, a particular government’s stance, with anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism is real, we need to denounce it, but we also must stand up for the human rights violations that are ongoing in Palestine.” Next, he stated that he would increase funding to Old Age Security by abolishing tax credits from Stephen Harper’s government to lift 600,000 seniors out of poverty in the country. Addressing both gender inequality and Indigenous issues simultaneously, he proposed strengthening pay equity laws, family leave policies for Indigenous women, whom make 40% less than men in Canada. On restricting freedom of religion in Quebec, with specific attention to Islam, Singh noted that Quebec is “well equipped” to handle this issue with its provincial Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Overall, Jagmeet Singh’s debate performance was one of collegiality, diplomacy, decisiveness, and like-mindedness when positioning himself with his NDP leadership rivals in relation to their policy platforms and ideas for the country. This election will be made more interesting for the country given that the two other major parties, the Liberals and Conservatives, are headed by Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer, respectively. Along with Jagmeet Singh, they are also relatively young leaders looking to set Canada on their ideal path towards prosperity.