NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spoke in Saskatoon again Thursday after making a stop in the city while on the campaign trail Wednesday night. In Kinsmen Park, with City Hospital as his backdrop, he warned that Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s pledge to balance Canada’s operating budget in three years will mean $43 billion in cuts, according to the NDP’s calculations. Singh says that would weaken public services. He notes that the health transfers to provinces are included in the operating budget. Carney has said he wouldn’t be cutting healthcare spending, but Singh says in a time of rising costs, just maintaining the spending is the same as cuts.
With President Donald Trump’s tariffs a big topic of discussion in Canada and the tariffs from China, Singh suggests that diversification is the answer. He recognizes that the tariffs from China, particularly for the agriculture sector are significant. “We’ve got to find ways to diversify our markets. Being very reliant on the United States has become a clear vulnerability. Also for our agricultural sector, being really reliant on China is also shown to be a vulnerability. For all of our sectors, diversifying our trade relationships is vital.” Singh says the New Democrats would support farmers to help with diversifying trade markets.
With homelessness and mental health and addictions a big concern, the federal NDP Leader was asked what his party would do to solve these crises. He answered that it is heartbreaking that Canada is one of the world’s richest countries and yet we have people sleeping on the streets and dying from overdoses. Singh believes housing is the first step.
He believes once someone has a home, all of the other supports can follow, with care and compassion. “We’ve to to give people healthcare as a solution. We’ve got to give people access to rehabilitation services. Rehab is fundamental, having more beds available. We can solve this but it has to take the priority of responding to this crisis, like it’s a crisis.” He adds that getting toxic drugs off our streets is another part of the solution, with much of it coming across our national border, Singh says the border needs to be strengthened.
Singh is meeting with Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations leaders Thursday afternoon in Saskatoon, before continuing on to the next stop on his campaign.
Speaking on the campaign trail in the Greater Toronto Area, Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says Ottawa would reimburse cities for half of every dollar they cut in development charges — up to a maximum of 25-thousand dollars per home.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney says he wants to ensure that Canadians feel safe in their communities. He’s announced a slate of public safety measures, including revamping the gun buyback program and revoking gun licenses for people convicted of violent offences.
