Singh attacks Carney, says he’s not ‘in it’ for regular folks

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OTTAWA — On day one of the election campaign, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh launched a full-fledged attack against Liberal Leader Mark Carney, accusing him of working for wealthy investors and corporations, instead of regular Canadians.

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“You deserve a prime minister you can trust to make decisions in your best interests, not to advance his personal wealth,” said Singh, who was speaking in Ottawa with several local NDP candidates shortly after the writ dropped, on Sunday afternoon.

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“He has spent his whole career serving the interests of billionaires, or shareholders and CEOs. He makes decisions that benefit people like him. He’s not our guy,” he added.

The NDP is in a distant third position in the polls, with some showing single-digit numbers of support in parts of the country. But Singh and his team are determined to make the case in the following weeks that the New Democrats are the only option for progressive voters.

The NDP’s slogan is “In It For You,” which the party hopes will showcase a clear contrast between them and the Liberal and Conservative parties in this election.

NDP campaign director Jennifer Howard said in a recent briefing to media that she thinks the slogan “indicates perfectly what people are looking for right now.”

“I think this is a fight about your interests, who is going to help you out, who is going to protect you, who is going to govern for you, versus who’s going to govern for the wealthy millionaires and billionaires,” said Howard.

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“We’re watching in real time what governing in the service of billionaires looks like in the United States right now, and that’s not something we want to hear.”

Carney, who was serving as Brookfield Asset Management’s chair and head of transition investing until he decided to jump into politics in January, has been pressed by his political opponents to disclose any assets from Brookfield he put into his blind trust.

For Singh, that means linking him to decisions made to corporations linked to Brookfield — even though there is no proof that Carney was directly involved in those decisions.

“While families struggled to pay rent, he was helping banks and investors profit off the housing crisis. When people needed relief, he made sure corporations driving up prices kept breaking in profits. He cashed in while Canadians were struggling,” said Singh.

“Now, he wants you to believe he’ll fix the very things that made him and his friends richer. He won’t fight for everyday people, because that’s not who he is.”

Singh did not mince words either for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is actively courting the votes of union workers that have been traditionally leaning New Democrat in the past.

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“Pierre Poilievre talks about freedom, but he’s only offering freedom for the ultra-rich, freedom for corporations to jack up your rent, freedom for billionaires to avoid paying taxes, freedom for big corporations to buy up our healthcare,” said Singh.

“When times get tougher, he won’t step in. He’ll step aside. That’s not leadership. That’s not a plan that will build a Canada we can be proud of.”

Poilievre launches his campaign promising to be ‘respectful and firm’ against Trump

Singh also addressed voters who would be tempted to vote Liberal in a strategic move to stop Poilievre’s Conservatives from forming government.

“But this is like being told you have to pick between a house with a leaky roof or a cracked foundation, one patched together with empty conservative slogans, the other rotting from the inside after years of Liberals protecting the most wealthy,” he said.

“Those houses are not the same, but neither will hold up when the storm hits, because neither was built for you,” he added.

Singh’s message? Only New Democrats can be trusted to look out for the people.

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“Do not let the rich and powerful tell you that you deserve less. Do not let them convince you that in a time of crisis, you must sacrifice while they profit, because when the storm hits, they won’t feel it,” he said.

“We’re not here to patch up a broken system for the next storm. We are here to rebuild it stronger, safer and fairer for everyone. I believe that’s worth fighting for.”

The NDP was in a supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals from March 2022 to September 2024 which helped Justin Trudeau’s minority government stay in power, in exchange for implementing NDP priorities such as a national dental care program.

That program is set to be fully implemented at the end of May, which will see millions of lower and medium-income Canadian households benefit from free dental care.

With Carney now at the helm of the Liberal party, Singh told reporters on Sunday he had no interest in seeing the NDP becoming the Liberals’ dance partner once again.

“I don’t want to dance with them. I want to be the prime minister of this country.”

National Post
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