Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh does not plan to bring down the federal government any time soon.
However, in a campaign-style visit to Prince Rupert Oct. 29, he told Black Press Media he is not afraid to do just that if the Liberals don鈥檛 live up to the agreement the two parties struck in March.
鈥淥ur goal, and my goal, has always been to do the harder thing, which is to force this government to deliver for Canadians,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the current context of we just had a pandemic, we鈥檝e got a cost of living that鈥檚 going up, interest rates are going up, people are feeling the squeeze, we want to get people some respect, some relief, some real dignity, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e fighting for.鈥�
Singh arrived in the Northwest Oct. 27 along with Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach. First up was a private meeting with representatives of the Lax Kw鈥檃laams First Nation Thursday evening.
Singh said he was particularly moved to hear the story of a man whose father had been of victim of the residential school system and how that intergenerational trauma had affected him.
鈥淥ne of the things we try to do is reach out to Indigenous communities wherever we go to make sure we鈥檙e doing our part, doing my part as leader, to really walk the walk and reconciliation,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I feel like on a lot of levels, one, it鈥檚 just the right thing to do justice for the first people of this land; we know there鈥檚 been a lot of injustice.鈥�
Singh and Bachrach also met with the new mayor-elect, council-elect and city staff of Prince Rupert.
The NDP leader did not directly address the recent municipal election issue of eliminating the port tax cap, but said he supports a push to ensure municipalities have sustainable revenue.
鈥淭heir concern was those large corporations and large industries that have the means should be contributing more fairly,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we think that鈥檚 a reasonable thing. We, in general, have been pushing, broadly speaking, that corporate CEOs should be paying what they owe, and given the big profits that we鈥檙e seeing, the massive record profits with the corporate sector that yeah, absolutely, they should be contributing what they owe.鈥�
Last up before letting their hair down with a party for the NDP faithful Friday evening, Singh and Bachrach met with the North Coast Labour Council.
Singh said the workers they met brought up many issues from the cost of food, to the cost of living in general, education, health care and employment. He noted, though, that many of these other pressing issues come back to housing.
鈥淚f we want the workers to be here to take care of our aging loved ones, and the workers that we need for the jobs that are opening up, we don鈥檛 have homes for that, places for them to live, so then how can they come up?鈥� he said.
He said the housing shortage is a massive problem he has been seeing all across the country. However, he believes there are meaningful solutions that he breaks down into two broad categories.
鈥淭here is taking the housing crisis seriously and mobilizing the capital at the federal level, the resources at the federal level, the likes of which we saw after the World Wars, so just a massive mobilization of federal funds to build houses,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd that housing, it has to be mixed. It鈥檚 got to be rental housing, it鈥檚 got to be homes for people to buy. It鈥檚 got to include things like cooperative housing, not-for-profit housing, a real mix, a healthy mix of all sorts of housing, those that are low income and no income.鈥�
The second broad category, he said, is stopping the speculation in the housing market.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e a first-time homebuyer, you鈥檙e going up against, in a lot of cases, this happens in Canada, corporations with deep pockets that are trying to snap up more land,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, we鈥檝e got to change the way we look at housing so it鈥檚 not about a vehicle to make lots of money, but a place for people to find something to call their own home.鈥�
He believes that is an achievable goal.
鈥淚 think we can do that with tax changes with incentives, different incentives, changing the way we look at things like capital gains, and really targeting, making housing about people having a home and not about making it a stock market.鈥�
Sing and Bachrach finished the day with a party fundraiser at the Highliner Hotel and Conference Centre, which Singh said was about having some fun.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important, you work hard, we fight hard, but it鈥檚 also important to have some joy,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o having a roomful of really great people, hope we鈥檒l hear some good stories, and have some good laughs, maybe dance, there鈥檚 gonna be some music.
鈥淲e also want to raise some funds because I want to get Taylor Bachrach reelected. I think he鈥檚 a very strong member of Parliament, and I want to support him on that journey. There is no election that we know of, but we want to make sure that we鈥檙e ready, if there is one, we can fight it.鈥�
Singh and Bachrach had originally planned to visit Haida Gwaii, but weather sidetracked the itinerary. They finished up the visit with an appearance at the farmers market in Terrace and meeting with Terrace mayor-elect Sean Bujtas.
