Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, front, was in Nanaimo on Friday and participated in a sign wave at Bowen Park with Nanaimo-North Cowichan NDP candidate Doug Routley and Nanaimo NDP candidate Sheila Malcolmson. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, front, was in Nanaimo on Friday and participated in a sign wave at Bowen Park with Nanaimo-North Cowichan NDP candidate Doug Routley and Nanaimo NDP candidate Sheila Malcolmson. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

Federal NDP leader comes to Nanaimo to support provincial candidates

Jagmeet Singh voting in first provincial election since moving to B.C.

Vancouver Island NDP candidates got a boost today knowing that New Democrats across the country are behind them.

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was in Nanaimo on Friday afternoon for a sign-wave at Bowen Park with provincial NDP candidates Sheila Malcolmson and Doug Routley.

Singh said he wanted to lend some of the goodwill he’s earned in federal politics and support provincial NDP candidates, who he said represent the province’s diversity and “reflect what B.C. is all about.”

Singh, who represents Burnaby South in the House of Commons, is voting in his first B.C. provincial election this month and praised the B.C. NDP government’s work on improving access to health care, child care and affordable housing.

“As an MP from B.C. I’ve seen first-hand the immense change that the NDP government has made in people’s lives. They’ve made people’s lives so much better,” Singh said. “I want to support that work and there’s so much more work that needs to be done.”

He said provincial NDP leader John Horgan has run a “great campaign focused on people,” mentioning for example renters, small business owners and others who have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singh said the provincial and federal New Democratic parties “align on the major theme and the principle of how do we help people in this tough time.”

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