Jagmeet Singh surpasses other Canadian politicos in fundraising

Jagmeet Singh, the Sikh politician seeking to become the next leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), is already gathering momentum in fund-raising, outstripping even Justin Trudeau at the same stage of their respective leadership contests.

As Elections Canada released fund-raising numbers for the second quarter of this year, 38-yearold Singh easily led all other candidates vying for the leadership of the national party. Singh was denied a visa by India in 2013.

That is particularly notable since Singh only entered the leadership race in May 15, and in approximately a month-and-ahalf handily outpaced his rivals who had been in the contest through the entire quarter ending June 30. A statement released by his campaign crowed: “Jagmeet Singh, candidate in the federal NDP leadership race, has raised more in the first 47 days than Justin Trudeau or Andrew Scheer at the same point in their leadership campaigns.”

The reference was to comparative fund-raising for the current Canadian prime minister when he ran for leadership of the Liberal Party in 2013, and the new leader of the Conservative Party, who was elected earlier this year.

Singh said the campaign had raised CA $353,944 in 47 days, while Trudeau reached that amount in 77 days and Scheer in 124. The NDP is one of the three major national parties of Canada and emerged as the principal Opposition party in the House of Commons in the 2011 elections.

In a statement, Singh said, “I am proud of what our team was able to accomplish in our first six weeks of the campaign. We are building the resources to grow our party.”