Sunday is huge for Jagmeet Singh - and it doesn't involve the luck of the Irish.
The federal NDP leader will be officially sworn in as the Member of Parliament for Burnaby South.
Now he will finally have a chance to get up in the House of Commons to comment on issues and hold the government to account for its policies.
Make no mistake, this will give Singh a much-higher profile than he’s had since become leader of the NDP.
Fair or not, TV news programs love those clips of leaders speaking in Parliament. That’s just one example of how Singh will benefit from finally becoming a member of Parliament.
Exposure – especially when it comes while speaking in the House of Commons – is good for party leaders. Those clips make someone look far more prime ministerial than those clips filmed when a politician is in a press scrum.
I wish it wasn’t so, but a lot of voters are swayed by such things.
Singh really needs a win as his party struggles in the polls, at the fundraising game and at keeping its veteran MPs in the political game. The NDP has had a long string of MPs announce they aren’t running in October.
It’s a bad look for Singh. It comes across as a lack of faith in his leadership to some voters, even if that’s not necessarily true.
So this is Singh’s time to turn things around and get seen by more people as he shares his message with the public.
The party is pushing heavy the message of Singh making history by being sworn in: “Singh is going to make history as the first racialized Leader of a federal party to have a seat in Parliament,” read a news release.
