Singh acknowledges NDP faces ‘massive challenges,’ says he won’t back down

TORONTO – Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh admitted Tuesday his party faces “massive challenges” in the federal election but insisted he’s fighting for people who can’t fight back.

“Let’s be clear, there’s massive challenges. I’ve got no illusions about that. There are some serious challenges that we’re up against,” Singh said at a campaign event in Toronto.

Singh’s NDP has watched its poll numbers tumble in just the past month. A Leger poll for The Canadian Press published Tuesday had the NDP at just six per cent nationally, down three points from one week ago.

In 2021, the party earned almost 18 per cent of the popular vote and elected 25 MPs.

Singh said the NDP also faced challenges when it fought to get the federal Liberal government to establish dental-care and pharmacare programs, but ultimately succeeded.

“You can ask me this question 100 times. I’m never going to back down, I’m never going to give up. Because I believe in what I’m fighting for. I believe in it and I know that people deserve better,” Singh said.

Singh then pivoted to the topic of his Tuesday media event — the high cost of housing — and cited the case of Erin Filby, a downtown Toronto resident who said she had two months’ rent mistakenly taken from her account and couldn’t pay her other bills until the money was put back.

Filby, who lives in a rent-controlled unit, told the NDP press conference that new tenants are being charged double what she pays.

Singh said the building Filby lives in was bought by Brookfield Investments while now-Liberal Leader Mark Carney was its chair.

Filby said she doesn’t hold Carney responsible for the housing crisis but said Brookfield targeted low-income renters to make “Scrooge McDuck piles of money” — a reference to the Disney character who swims in a vault filled with gold coins.

Singh did not issue a policy announcement to go with his campaign stop Tuesday but said the NDP would be unveiling more housing policy in the near future.

Last year, the NDP introduced a bill that would have banned corporations from buying existing affordable apartments by restricting sales to individuals, non-profits, municipalities, agencies and co-ops.

When asked whether that bill would be part of the NDP’s election platform, Singh said he didn’t want to get ahead of future announcements but the party “hasn’t wavered” on its values.

Singh picked up two more labour endorsements while campaigning in Toronto — from the Amalgamated Transit Union and CUPE Social Workers. 

“You are the party that deal with our workers, makes sure we get what we need everyday … You’re our candidate, you’ve got our endorsement,” John Di Mario, Amalgamated Transit Union Canada president, told Singh at a Toronto streetcar terminal.

Singh then dropped by the CUPE Social Worker convention at a downtown Toronto hotel. The NDP leader posed for photos with union members as CUPE campaign team staffers encouraged attendees to sign vote pledge forms.

The Conservatives have picked up their own union support in recent days, with the boilermakers endorsing the party. Electrical workers and construction unions have expressed support for the Conservative “Boots Not Suits” plan, aimed at boosting apprenticeship training and labour mobility.

In a media statement, Arnie Stadnick, Canadian vice president of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, said that the Conservative “Boots Not Suits” plan played a factor in the formal endorsement. 

“(Pierre Poilievre) gets it. He knows and understands that the surest and most sustainable route to providing a cleaner environment is through technology, not dismantling our energy sectors, raising taxes, importing energy from other nations, and shipping Canadian jobs abroad,” Stadnick wrote.

CUPE’s national chapter and the United Steelworkers Canada have both endorsed the NDP. The NDP has to date received endorsements from unions representing just over one million workers.

Singh said he doesn’t take union support for granted and argued that some of the workers most at risk from U.S. tariffs are backing his party.

“(Poilievre’s) got a strong track record of being anti-union. He’s voted against anti-scab legislation multiple times in the past. He’s shown that he has voted against workers being able to fight for fair wages. He is no friend of working folks,” Singh said.

Last May, the House of Commons did pass legislation banning replacement workers in federally regulated workplaces through unanimous consent.

When pressed to react to some unions backing the Conservatives, Singh suggested that some people have forgotten about the policies of the Stephen Harper government.

“Harper, as a Conservative prime minister, and Pierre Poilievre as a cabinet minister in that government attacked workers, attacked the unions, attacked their ability to organize. Sometimes there’s a bit of a gap and people forget what happened before, so it’s our job on this campaign to remind people,” he said.

Singh is scheduled to end Tuesday with a rally at a campaign office in Hamilton. The NDP campaign has ended each day at a local campaign office with a rally for area candidates, volunteers and supporters.

The election is set for April 28th.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2025