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NDP’s Jagmeet Singh gets chance to take on Canada PM Justin Trudeau after by-election win
- Calling the victory ‘incredible’, Canada’s only non-white major party leader pledged to fight for the middle class and took aim at xenophobes in the country
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Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, has won a critical by-election and a seat in parliament, ensuring he will lead the left-of-centre party in the country’s October federal election.
Singh, the first non-white leader of a major party in Canada, was under immense pressure to win the highly anticipated race in Burnaby, a city east of Vancouver.
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“Friends, we made history today,” he told supporters. “When I was growing up, I could have never imagined someone like me running to be prime minister.”
Calling the victory “incredible”, Singh pledged to fight for Canada’s middle class and took direct aim at growing fears of xenophobia in the country.
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The rookie leader, who some see as an energising force in Canadian politics, will have a place in the House of Commons, allowing him to spar with other leaders and the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, ahead of the election.
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