THUNDER BAY – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says it’s clear past governments have failed Canada’s Indigenous communities, particularly those in remote, Northwestern Ontario.
Singh, in Thunder Bay on Friday for a series of campaign stops as the party tries to reclaim a pair of Thunder Bay seats lost to the Liberals in 2015, said the time for talk is past.
This time around action is needed, something the NDP is prepared act on almost immediately if he’s elected prime minister on Sept. 20.
“This is something we need to do. There are a number of factors. When I was speaking with Indigenous communities they mentioned the fact that not having adequate housing really creates a sense of despair,” Singh said in an exclusive interview with Dougall Media. “Not having access to clean drinking water makes people feel a loss of hope.
“When we talk about the mental-health crisis, we need investments in mental health. We need supports for Indigenous-led learning on the ground, on the land. There’s a lot of on-the-land learning that can happen with good programs.”
The 42-year-old Singh has led the party for the past four years and said there’s plenty that can be done to prove to Northwestern Ontarians that the NDP is deserving of their vote.
He pointed to the party’s efforts, with the balance of power in a minority government, fighting for better pandemic supports for average Canadians, convincing the Liberals under Justin Trudeau to provide more than initially planned.
“When people needed supports we fought to double the CERB. That gave eight million Canadians more help. They were able to pay their bills, put food on the table. We were able to make that happen. When people needed help to keep their jobs, we increased the wage subsidy the Liberals started at 10 per cent to 75 percent,” Singh said.
“In doing that, we saved millions of jobs. When people wanted help in this strict time, the Liberals wanted to do the bare minimum. We fought to get more help to more people.”
The NDP leader’s topic of the day was universal pharmacare, a $10.2 billion plan he said will save the provinces about $4.5 billion, but he also touched on a number of other issues during a question-and-answer session with local and national media.
Singh, who also met with local Indigenous leaders as part of his Thunder Bay visit, said the message he wanted to deliver to them was a promise to not only listen, but to fight for them in the House of Commons.
“I want Indigenous communities across Canada and for the chiefs that we’ll be meeting with to know we’re not just here to give all the answers. We’re also here more importantly to listen, because Indigenous communities know what the solutions are. They’re experiencing the problems on the ground and we have to work together,” Singh said.
“What we’ve seen for a long time, from both Liberals and Conservatives is an Ottawa-knows-best. And it’s not the right approach. For a lot of Indigenous communities, they just want an ally that’s going to work with them. I want folks to count on me as that ally.”
