Jagmeet Singh brought the NDP’s federal election campaign to Nanaimo-Ladysmith today.
The New Democratic Party leader held a rally and meet-and-greet event at Ladysmith’s Transfer Beach Park on Monday, Aug. 30.
Singh made a short speech at the campaign stop, talking about climate action and pandemic social programs after being introduced by local NDP candidate Lisa Marie Barron.
The NDP leader said the Liberals haven’t met climate targets, haven’t reduced fossil fuel subsidies and haven’t made Canada’s biggest polluters pay. Singh said children growing up in a climate crisis are starting to think hazy skies are normal summer weather and said the NDP would make the “right decisions” on climate by ending fossil fuel subsidies, investing in renewable energy, electrifying transportation systems and retrofitting homes and other buildings.
“We are committed to fighting this climate crisis with everything we have. We are committed to fighting for the future for our kids,” Singh said.
Discussing the pandemic and Canada’s social safety net, Singh accused the Liberals of trying to do the bare minimum and said it was New Democrats in Parliament who argued for higher CERB cheques as well as better wage subsidies for businesses which ultimately protected jobs.
“We knew people needed help and that’s why, throughout this pandemic, every step of the way, we were committed to making sure people got the help they needed,” Singh said.
Noticing that several members of the Nanaimo non-profit the Rise Bridge Project were in the crowd wearing ‘together we rise’ t-shirts, Singh commented that it reminded him how his mother taught him that ‘we are all one.’
“We’re all connected and if someone around us is hurting, we’re also hurting, but if we lift the people around us, together we rise,” he said.
In addition to the NDP’s Barron, other candidates in Nanaimo-Ladysmith include Michelle Corfield of the Liberals, Tamara Kronis of the Conservatives, Paul Manly of the Green Party, and Stephen Welton of the People’s Party of Canada.
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