Singh’s religion could hurt him in vote: poll
A huge majority of Canadians think it’s a good thing the country now has a major political party led by a visible minority, but they also think being a practising Sikh will hurt new NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s chances in an election, according to a new Angus Reid poll.
Singh is the first visible minority to lead a major federal party and, although 70 per cent of Canadians think the milestone is good for the country, they’re not so sure how their friends and family will react.
Half of respondents to the poll said “some or most” of their family and friends wouldn’t vote for a party led by an observant Sikh man.
Seventy-seven per cent of Canadians agreed with the statement that “ultimately, a politician’s religious or cultural identity shouldn’t matter — only their policies should.”
The most resistance comes from Quebec. Fortyseven per cent of Quebecers say they wouldn’t vote for an observant Sikh man. That number peaks at 33 per cent in the rest of Canada.
In September, Quebec MP Pierre Nantel told a Radio-Canada reporter that Singh’s leadership bid doesn’t align with what Quebecers want to see in their political leaders, and that “ostentatious religious symbols” are “not compatible with power, with authority.” NDP MPs hastily distanced themselves from Nantel’s comments, but they were followed up by similar comments by Martine Ouellet, the leader of the federal Bloc Québécois.
In a press release accompanying the poll, Angus Reid noted that in previous polls 37 per cent of Canadians said they wouldn’t vote for a party led by a Sikh or a man who wears a religious head-covering. With this new poll, Angus Reid says “it seems that Canadians have softened somewhat” on these issues.
Another hurdle for Singh to clear is simply getting Canadians to know who he is. Only nine per cent of Canadians have a lot of familiarity with him, while nearly 70 per cent have either never heard of him or only vaguely recognize his name.
Singh can take solace in the fact that his profile is higher than Conservative leader Andrew Scheer’s was after he won that party’s leadership. In May, 44 per cent of respondents said they’d never heard of Scheer, compared to 33 per cent for Singh.
In September, Singh rose to global prominence after being praised for his response to a woman who interrupted one of his campaign rallies, accusing him of ties to Sharia law and the Muslim Brotherhood. A video of the confrontation has drawn more than 35 million views.