Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh rallied supporters in Cranbrook during a brief stop at the Canadian Rockies International Airport on Saturday night.
Singh, who made the stop in Cranbrook after hop-scotching across Western Canada during the day, personally greeted supporters at a gate leading onto the tarmac after the NDP’s campaign plane touched down.
Following an introduction from Kootenay-Columbia NDP candidate Wayne Stetski, Singh delivered a stump speech criticizing Liberal policy relating to pharmacare and climate change, while also castigating the Conservatives for actions undertaken prior to 2015.
Singh pledged NDP action on fighting climate change, rolling dental and mental health supports into health care coverage, and tackling the housing affordability crisis. Singh also said billionaires and the super wealthy must pay their fair share and that the party will go after them with “unlimited zeal.”
He closed his speech with a personal anecdote passed down from his mother.
“We are all one, we are truly one, we are connected,” Singh said. “When we see people hurting, we’re also hurting. But when we lift the people around us, we all rise.”
Following the speech, supporters mobbed Singh and Stetski for selfies, before the NDP leader and entourage boarded for a flight to the west coast, where he will tour ridings in Metro Vancouver Sunday.
