OTTAWA 鈥� Jagmeet Singh says he's "absolutely" the right person to lead the New Democrats into the next election despite the party's drop in the polls.
A recent Leger poll puts the NDP at just 14 per cent support 鈥� and suggests that support would drop to 12 per cent with Mark Carney as Liberal leader.
At a health care conference in Ottawa on Monday, Singh was asked if he's still the right leader for the party.
鈥淪o if you want to defend health care, I'm your guy. I'm the only one that's committed to defending health care, fighting back against privatization, not letting people profit off the pain of Canadians,鈥� he said.
Singh said both the Liberals and Conservatives are proposing cuts to federal spending and he suggested that could include health and dental care programs.
Pharmacare and the national dental-care program were key parts of the supply-and-confidence deal that saw the NDP keep the minority Liberals in power for more than two years.
Singh took aim at the Liberals and leadership candidate Mark Carney, who is widely seen as the front-runner in the race.
鈥淢ark Carney鈥檚 proposing to cut health care, cut the operating budget for our country, which literally means cutting services, which will make it harder for people to get health care,鈥� he said.
Carney has said that if he becomes prime minister, he'll split the federal budget into two streams 鈥� capital and operational spending 鈥� and balance the operating side while running small capital deficits.
Carney has said he would continue the public dental care program but has not stated a position on the pharmacare program.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said that he will fix the budget and target 鈥渨asted money.鈥�
He also has said that he would scrap pharmacare and has not committed to funding the dental-care program.
Singh said U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated threats to make Canada the 51st state also pose a risk to our country's universal health care system.
鈥淭he number one cause of bankruptcy in America is because of health care costs," he said. "To have an American style health care system you want that's private, you spend money out of pocket.鈥�
As of Feb. 14, the NDP has nominated 140 candidates in 343 ridings for the upcoming federal election, which could begin as early as mid-March.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2025.
Jesmeen Gill, The Canadian Press
