Nanaimo’s MP is supporting Jagmeet Singh in his bid to become the next leader of the New Democratic Party.
Sheila Malcolmson, NDP MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, announced Sunday that she is endorsing the Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament as the next federal party leader as voting is now underway.
“When Jagmeet Singh hosted a townhall in Nanaimo, I felt a surge of hope, inspiration and excitement about how our party could connect and lead,” she said in a statement. “We’ll need that energy and enthusiasm if we hope to defeat Trudeau in 2019.”
- RELATED: NDP leadership hopeful Singh brings love-and-courage campaign to Nanaimo
The leadership candidate was in Nanaimo on Sept. 8 to talk to supporters and party members and Malcolmson told Singh at the time that although she was still undecided between the four candidates, “I am with you and this is almost for me one of the final pieces, is being able to see what happens in a room what’s the dialogue, what’s the energy and how can we translate that into cultivating volunteers [and] bringing back a real spirit and energy into our 2019 campaign.”
Singh tweeted out Sunday that it’s an honour to have Malcolmson’s endorsement.
“Sheila is a team-builder, an expert on green energy and a powerful force for change as our party’s critic for status of women,” Singh said.
He and the other three leadership candidates – Guy Caron, Niki Ashton and Charlie Angus – made speeches at a showcase event Sunday in Hamilton. The first round of ranked-ballot voting will be announced Oct. 1 and the next NDP leader could be known at that time.
