10 Comments

I think Jagmeet sees the polls and thinks his party has a chance at being the official opposition. He's playing with fire here. His success with the dental program, pharmacare and the childcare program will all be lost if Poilievre gets in. IMO putting a leader in the NDP that wears a Rolex and tailored suits was never a good idea. Jagmeet is the biggest reason the NDP is getting decimated. He's never really related to the base of the NDP.

Expand full comment
Jun 15·edited Jun 15

The real fever that is raging in the political world of this country is the fever of making everything Prime Minister (and I am using the term PM deliberately) Trudeau’s fault and therefore responsibility. What Jagmeet Singh and many others are missing is that it is not the government’s responsibility to police political parties. Parliament and its MPs are supposed to supposed to hold the government to account and not the other way around.

Now, party leader Trudeau has a responsibility for his MPs in his caucus. And party leader Singh has to take care of his caucus. And party leader Poilievre should address the concerns in his caucus and the concerns around the CPC leadership races. This is not the job of the government or the prime minister.

Expand full comment

One other thing. How can you tell that if somebody is playing politics regarding this topic?

Very simple, as soon as somebody presents intelligence as proven facts. Intelligence comes with caveats and typically has a degree of ambiguity.

I was not a surprised that Singh’s office walked back a number of his claims the next day. Singh would have been a lot more effective if he would said that there are no concerns for the NDP caucus, but other parties have work to do. And leave it at that.

Expand full comment

You are wrong about Jagmeet being able to invoke parliamentary privilege to reveal names in the House of Commons. To get security clearance, MP’s had to waive parliamentary privilege. However, I find that Elizabeth May’s account to be more credible for the simple reason that she has no motive to misrepresent the report, whereas Singh can score political points by implying that both the Liberals and Conservatives are harbouring “traitors”.

Expand full comment

Elizabeth May would have no reason to lie about what she read in the report. IMO, May’s response was credible.

OTOH, Singh has proven over time he’s willing to trade credibility to score cheap political points. Years ago, I was excited to see what Singh would do in NDP leadership. Unfortunately, he often steers toward a brand of political cynicism that has neither helped the NDP win, nor helped build support for the party between elections. Yet he continues to fall back on the same cynical political rhetoric year after year. I don’t understand his logic, honestly.

Expand full comment

Perfect article decribing Singh. He is a weak and superficial leader. Time to hop off the political wagon and go back to his lawyering days.

Expand full comment

I have to concur. Jagmeet has been a disaster from the start. And we badly need alternatives to Fric and Frac. (Justin just proudly joined his fellow G7 leaders in confirming his loyalty to Israel, and his on-going support for genocide.)

Expand full comment

Would Naheed Nenshi be a good choice to lead the federal NDP?

Expand full comment

Oh, wow!

You must be from Ontario. Certainly not from Calgary.

Expand full comment

I hope you enjoyed the resurrection of the Oilers and McDrai in Game 4.

Never wise to write off these guys, especially as confidently as you did!

Hope springs eternal in Edmonton.

Singh and the NDP, on the other hand, have been unravelling for quite some time... perhaps fans of the Leafs or Habs can relate better.

Squeezed on the left by the Libs, outflanked by Poilievre's hard tack to working class men, and led by a fellow who is limited in so many ways -- the NDP is flailing and falling.

Not surprising, and no easy remedies.

But a new coach might help....

Expand full comment