NDP needs to put the little guy first

Jagmeet Singh soared to victory Sunday as the first-ballot winner of the NDP federal leadership race. The former deputy leader of the Ontario NDP is now tasked with deciding which direction to lead the party. He’s got two main paths from which to choose: • Does the party act as champion of the

little guy or • Get lost in far-left social justice warrior

antics?

The NDP should keep in mind they represent a working class contingent and act as a voice for the regular people caught up in an increasingly expensive and divisive world.

So we applaud Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath for advocating to eliminate provincial taxes on home heating.

People are nickel-and-dimed to death by taxes and it is wrong for government to make a buck off of those struggling to heat their homes in a country with winters like ours.

Federally, outgoing NDP Leader Tom Mulcair bravely campaigned on a balanced budget back in the 2015 election. He knew major deficits add debt and that sooner or later the piper must be paid.

But are these the sorts of ideas we’ll see from the NDP under Singh?

Last year, Singh issued a praiseworthy tweet to acknowledge the passing of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

He’s also been a vocal supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel.

This is a needlessly divisive issue that a federal leader should not be taking on.

Singh’s leadership rival Niki Ashton has talked about moving much further to the left, to make sure they’ll never be outflanked by Justin Trudeau again.

The trouble with pandering to extremes on either side of the political spectrum is that you create divisions.

You also fail to serve the middle, where most of us live.

And when you serve the extremes, to the virtual exclusion of the middle, well, that’s when you get Donald Trump.

Social justice antics are not the path to victory. But, more importantly, it’s not what Canadians need. — Postmedia News