Singh ready for federal election call

“We’re absolutely ready, we knew that the Liberals were going in this direction so we prepared,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

Jagmeet Singh was in Merritt on Wednesday meeting with local indigenous leaders and potential Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola candidate Joan Phillip. His listening tour will see him make stops in Kamloops and Penticton.

While Singh and the NDP are ready to contest an early election call, he doesn’t feel one is needed right now.

“People need help, they need support. I would rather work to get people the help they need than spend time in an election that we don’t need. There is no reason to call one,” said Singh.

“It looks to me they’re doing this just because they want power. It’s not in the interest of people,” added Singh. “There is a lot of things that they promised right at the end of the last session, promised help for child care, around people living with disabilities, increase minimum wage. They could do those things if they really wanted to, if they want to I’m ready to pass legislation. We can get back to Ottawa in September and get the work done.”

The Merritt area has been served by a right of centre MP for decades. The last time it wasn’t was when the NDP won the seat in 1988. Singh believes his party can swing some rural seats this year.

“Rural ridings, real practical people, they want to know what’s in it for them, how are you going to make my life better? We’ve shown in this pandemic it wasn’t the Conservatives, they didn’t do anything to make people’s lives better, they cant point to a single thing they fought for and won to help people out,” said Singh.

“Families in Merritt were better off because they had New Democrat fighting for them in Ottawa, and if we had more New Democrats we could get more work done. A lot of small businesses still need support, a lot of people still need help, it’s not going to be Conservatives that deliver that help, it’s New Democrats,” added Singh.

The local NDP is currently expected to acclaim Joan Phillip as their candidate in August unless another candidate steps forward to force a vote.