Singh bashes Trudeau, Poilievre in Halifax
Jagmeet Singh riled up party faithful on Sunday at the closing of the Nova Scotia NDP convention at the Lord Nelson in Halifax.
The federal leader echoed provincial leader Claudia Chender’s claims that progressive policies passed over recent years were the result of third-party pressure.
Singh pointed to $10 a day childcare implemented by the Liberal government, the national pharmacare plan that is covering diabetes medication and birth control and the recently announced national school food program.
“We’re going to force this government to do as much as possible,” Singh told cheering supporters.
“… and then we’re I’m running for prime minister of this country.”
While criticizing the Liberal government his party props up through an agreement to support it on confidence measures as “out of touch” and out to support “their rich friends,” Singh wouldn’t offer any glimpse on when he’ll trigger an election.
The federal Liberals have seen a precipitous drop in their polling sustained and haven’t received the hopedfor bump from their recent budget. According to polling aggregator 338Canada, as of Sunday, the Liberals had seen their numbers drop to 18 points behind the Conservatives.
Despite the unpopularity of their longtime Liberal rivals, the NDP has not made inroads and remains polling to get 18 per cent of the popular vote, compared to 24 for the Liberals and 42 per cent for the Conservatives.
Asked by The Chronicle Herald why he thought his party was failing to capitalize, Singh said that he’d keep highlighting the work the NDP has been doing to increase social support programs.
Pressed on why if Canadians have been hearing that message for years it’s not registering enough to increase his party’s support, he said, “I think it takes time. I’m not going to take for granted that people will know that right off the top, I got to do more work to make sure people know who (Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre) really is. And I see him up close, I see him in Parliament I see what he wants to do, he wants
to cut your pensions, he wants to cut EI.”
Singh’s spent much of his time bashing Poilievre instead of Trudeau as the Conservative leader sucks in more of the bleeding Liberal support. provincial
The NDP unveiled its proposal to respond to the housing crisis at its convention.
Dubbed Homes Within Reach, the NDP says that if elected provincially they would:
■ Support the non-market housing sector to leverage more federal funding by prioritizing the use of prefabricated/modular construction and enable the rapid expansion of non-profit and co-op housing.
■ Expand the existing provincial Down Payment Assistance Program for first-time homebuyers from five to 10 per cent of the purchase price up to $50,000.
■ Establish permanent rent control and create a renters’ tax credit for low and middleincome families.