Jagmeet, “the swaggiest politician in Canada”, according to BuzzFeed, and the subject of a feature in GQ magazine has not only the natural charms and the hot looks, but has everything that it takes to be the next great Canadian president.
He won the first ballot of the NDP leadership race in 2017, making history as the first person of colour to lead a national political party in Canada. His focus is around what the NDP describe as their “people-first” policies and is trying to capture the anxieties of today such as climate change and affordability chief among them, to pick up seats and compete for power in the coming campaign.
On the top of his agenda is creating a universal pharma-care program that includes dental and vision coverage, combating climate change, tackling housing affordability and ensuring that a transition out of oil and gas won’t leave workers in the resource economy behind.
NDP’s current campaign brand seemed focused on optimism and the supporting crowd chant of “love and courage,” which happens to be the title of Singh’s autobiographical book published this past April, where he addresses his personal issues amongst many others. His presence in Canadian politics signals a positive generational and cultural shift in Canada.
He’s proving to us that boys with hijabs can be superheroes, and also that saving the world doesn’t mean you can’t look dapper while doing it. “[Being] a brown-skinned, long-haired boy with a funny-sounding first name was kind of rough for a kid like me,” the Scarborough-born, criminal defense lawyer turned Ontario politician said in an interview with The National Post.
Jagmeet grew up in blue-collar Windsor, Ontario, which hasn’t always taken kindly to foreigners and immigrants. Sometimes others knocked him around for being a POC, and he started doing Brazilian Jujitsu and all martial art to defend himself. The practicing of martial arts, he said, is where he learned to push himself to be better (and got a super ripped body.) “Facing that unfairness was part of the reason why I care so much about social justice, about fighting for equity, for equality.”
