What if … Singh had stayed at Queen’s Park?
Politics is an uphill struggle for New Democrats, whose “moral victories” can be demoralizing after so many electoral disappointments.
All the more reason to play the happy warrior, because you never know when you’ll catch a break: Jack Layton tried it, Ed Broadbent deployed it, Tommy Douglas pioneered it. (Andrea Horwath here in Ontario, not so much.)
Today, Jagmeet Singh personifies it. He has been fighting the bittersweet political fight since winning the federal NDP leadership in 2017 — fending off internal rivals, staring down his political opponents, spoiling for a fight with Big Pharma and scrapping with premiers over universal pharmacare and national standards.
In a party of self-styled social justice warriors, Singh never takes himself too seriously. More than merely a happy warrior, he’s an NDP wayfarer with humility and a sense of humour.
Unsurprisingly, it helped him break through the confines of his Zoom conference call this week with the Toronto Star’s editorial board. He can poke fun at himself in a way that finger-wagging New Democrats rarely do.
But Singh turned deadly serious on pharmacare, one of his party’s passions. He vowed to hold multinational drug giants to account along with the federal Liberals, who have yet to move on their campaign promise of free pharmaceuticals.
I asked how he would win Canadians over to a cause that has eluded us since the birth of medicare, seven decades ago.
Singh made the case for massive economic savings if we used our combined national purchasing power to drive down drug prices in bulk.
It is a notably non-ideological argument that is as much about economic efficiency as it is equitable access. But he will also appeal to Canadians’ pride over medicare, by making the case that prescription medicines — prescribed, not discretionary — go hand in hand with our values of universality.
Yet Canadians can be complacent about pharmacare. Too many are contented with their workplace drug plans, even if that leaves so many others uncovered — much like Americans resisted Obamacare.
That’s what happened when Premier Doug Ford won the 2018 election, profiting from voter fatigue over a 15-year Liberal dynasty and easily overtaking Horwath’s NDP. Ford’s first order of business was to dismantle the embryonic OHIP+ pharmacare plan brought in by former premier Kathleen Wynne — with nary a peep of public protest over the loss of universal coverage for seniors and young people up to age 24.
In the aftermath, Singh’s crusade to revive pharmacare at the national level has hit a wall of opposition from Ford and other premiers. They resent any federal intrusion in pharmacare, just as they are resisting national standards for long-term care, on the grounds that both fall within provincial jurisdiction over health care.
Which brings me to the thought experiment I keep replaying: Imagine if Jagmeet Singh had never left his perch as deputy leader of Ontario’s NDP to take over the federal party some four years ago.
Where would he — and we — be now?
Horwath, who has helmed the provincial party since March 2009 — just about 12 years ago — hit a ceiling in the 2018 campaign. Running against an untested Ford and an unpopular Wynne, the stars were in alignment for her — but astrology and ideology won’t win voters over without personality.
Had Singh stayed in Ontario, it’s a safe bet Horwath might have come under pressure in a post-election leadership review to step aside in his favour. Despite all that has gone wrong in the pandemic — and much that has gone right wing — Horwath’s New Democrats have sunk to third place in most polls, falling behind the reincarnated Liberals.
Had Singh stayed in Ontario long enough to succeed Horwath as leader, getting into position before the 2022 campaign, where would he — and we — be today?
Ontario’s NDP would be within striking distance of overtaking Ford’s befuddled Tories. And were Singh to win the next provincial election, his first order of business as our 27th premier would be to revisit pharmacare — just as Ford did in 2018 — except that he would rebuild what his predecessor had undone, and build on it.
It’s worth noting that, in this week’s meeting, Singh kept singing the praises of his erstwhile Liberal adversary, former Ontario health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins, who recently completed a report for the federal government laying out a road map for pharmacare. The happy warrior is not averse to working with former enemies, more so than Horwath.
It’s also noteworthy that Singh — an accomplished martial arts expert — has been pulling his punches in criticizing the federal government’s procurement of vaccines. Singh’s candid explanation is he doesn’t want to delegitimize the vaccination debate to the point that Canadians become disenchanted and distrustful.
It shows maturity and responsibility from a politician who has grown considerably since becoming leader — and still shows growth potential. It is a revealing contrast to the reflexive negativism from Horwath and many other critics of the Ford government inclined to polemics and partisanship.
Here’s another thought experiment: If Singh hits a ceiling at the federal level — which seems predestined, given that Quebec voters’ flirtation with the NDP has long since faded — might he one day return to Ontario to pick up where left off by grabbing the baton on pharmacare?
Where there is a will, there is a way. Where there is a passion, there is a pathway.