Singh’s Burnaby visit fuels talk of byelection bid

VANCOUVER — Federal New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh says that while he has been encouraged to run for Parliament in the vacant riding of Burnaby South, he won’t be making an announcement yet.

Singh spent Friday in Metro Vancouver, with two planned events in the riding that NDP MP Kennedy Stewart vacated last month, allowing him to run for the mayor’s seat in Vancouver.

Singh, who was elected leader last October but doesn’t have a seat in Parliament, said Stewart and several interest groups have encouraged him to run in Burnaby South.

He said he wanted to take the opportunity to speak to British Columbians, particularly those in Burnaby South, about issues affecting them.

Singh confirmed that he recently met with local healthcare providers, who also urged him to run.

The NDP leader said that while he is honoured by the warm receptions he has received in B.C., his ultimate goal is to address Canada-wide concerns.

“Issues that impact Canadians are issues of affordability, affordable housing, access to medication, these are important things we’re going to continue to talk about,” he said.

Hamish Telford, an associate professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, said he believes Singh has had difficulties attracting attention as the NDP leader because of his absence in the House of Commons.

Telford said that if Singh runs in a byelection near where the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline is being expanded, it could help him gain traction.

“If he joined that byelection race, it would insert him at ground-zero of the pipeline debate.”