“We’re going to show that we can win anywhere,” the NDP leader says.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh campaigned in Verdun on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a byelection to fill the seat vacated by former justice minister David Lametti in January.
“We’re going to show that we can win anywhere, and we’re going to win in this riding,” Singh said at a press briefing in front of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun candidate Craig Sauvé’s election office.
The two men put up a few campaign signs in the streets of the riding, which will go to the polls on Sept. 16. Some signs promote the candidate, while others display slogans about affordable housing, the climate crisis and free health care.
Since he began canvassing four months ago, “the cost of living, the cost of rent, making ends meet, that’s really what’s on the lips of voters” in the riding, said Sauvé, an independent Montreal city councillor.
Cost of living was also at the heart of Singh’s message Monday. He said his party has shown that it can make a difference on this issue.
“We’re the ones who forced the (Trudeau) government to deliver programs like dental care. We’re going to continue to fight to reduce grocery prices,” he said, emphasizing his proposal to cap food prices.
The NDP leader accused the Liberals of having “let people down” and said voters can send a message to the Trudeau government: “The status quo is not working.”
Singh said he plans to return to the riding in the coming weeks to campaign with his candidate.
Running for the Conservatives is entrepreneur Louis Ialenti, and beekeeper Jency Mercier is running for the Greens.
In the October 2021 general election, Lametti was re-elected with 42.9 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Bloc Québécois with 22.1 per cent and the NDP with 19.4 per cent. The Conservative Party received 7.5 per cent and the Green Party 3.0 per cent.
Trudeau also called a byelection in the riding of Elmwood—Transcona, in east Winnipeg, vacated by NDP MP Daniel Blaikie.
