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Opinion: Burnaby MP Jagmeet Singh’s shining moment marred by being heckled

Something needs to be done to protect Burnaby South MP and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Singh should be able to walk down an Ottawa street and not get harassed on a day in which he shone so brightly in securing better benefits for Canadians.
jagmeet singh
This man heckled Burnaby South MP and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on an Ottawa street. Screenshot

Something needs to be done to protect Burnaby South MP and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

Singh should be able to walk down an Ottawa street and not get harassed on a day in which he shone so brightly in securing better benefits for Canadians.

As you can see from the video below, a white guy – it’s always a friggin’ white dude – stalks Singh as he walks down Wellington Street in Ottawa.

“Want me to arrest you?” chirps the man, who recently threatened a “citizen’s  arrest” on a journalist and is connected with far-right groups.

It’s ridiculous and offensive that Singh should have to go through this. He’s a national leader and deserves protection from this. Singh shouldn’t have to be polite as this garbage is spewed at him.

As Luke LeBrun, editor at Press Progress, mentions in his tweet, the video finishes up with him telling Singh: "Next time I see you, we're gonna have a dance."

That sure sounds like a threat to me.

This came on the same day that Singh forced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government to ensure benefits of $500 a week - the same as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (or CERB), which comes to an end Saturday.

The minority Liberal government had originally proposed payments of only $400 per week but upped the amount Thursday in an apparent bid to ensure NDP support for the throne speech.

The NDP had demanded that no one wind up getting less under the new regime than they were getting through the CERB, as well as a guarantee of paid sick leave.

So Singh forced the government to put more money into the pockets of Canadians still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s perhaps his best moment as NDP leader and yet he had to deal with some dude stalking him down the street.

It’s just not right.

  • With files from the Canadian Press

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.