Jagmeet Singh Resigns from Brampton Riding
Published October 22, 2017 at 11:57 pm
You know what they say – once a Bramptonian, always a Bramptonian.
You know what they say – once a Bramptonian, always a Bramptonian.
New federal New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh has officially resigned his seat as a Brampton MPP, and as such, he has resigned from provincial legislature.
The 38-year-old politician served the Bramalea-Gore-Malton area since 2011.
“It has been an honour serving the people of Bramalea-Gore-Malton and I’m looking forward to continuing this work on the federal level, building a more fair and just Canada,” said Singh in a statement.
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He formally submitted his resignation as Brampton MPP this past Friday, October 20, 2017, in favour of his federal pursuits.
Singh is the first person of a visible minority who has ever held leadership over a federal party since he won NDP leadership on October 1.
Singh was elected with 54 per cent of the vote, winning the leadership on the first ballot, beating back his challengers Guy Caron, Niki Ashton and Charlie Angus (all currently elected MPs). The latter three of the three got less than 20 per cent of the vote each.
It’s true that Singh doesn’t hold a seat in the House of Commons quite yet, and he may not seek one until as far in the future as 2019 – the next election.
Why so?
Singh has expressed intention to go out and rebuild the party over getting into Parliament for now. This may not be such a terrible idea – he has already garnered a lot of support for the NDP, and the New Democrats are a few million dollars in debt. Singh would be fundraising outside of the Ottawa bubble.
When Singh won office a few weeks ago, he mentioned a few of the issues that he focused on at his launch in Brampton, like social justice, the environment, and the economy. If he becomes Prime Minister, Singh pledges to ban street checks across Canada, and tackle the concept of precarious work so that people have more stable jobs. His NDP would also tax Netflix.
One thing’s for sure – he knows how to charm the media. Most recently, he graciously handled a racist heckler at an event.
Singh will be meeting with Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath in his new role for the first time this morning (Monday, October 23, 2017) at Queen’s Park.
He may have left his seat in Brampton, but Singh is the first Bramptonian and Sikh Canadian to win leadership of a federal party.
He’ll always be a Bramptonian in our hearts as we continue to follow his career.