NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh lost his seat in Monday’s election and announced his resignation, capping off a devastating night for his party.
Singh said he would stay on as leader until a new one is appointed.
“We are only defeated if we stop fighting,” said Singh in a concession speech that began shortly after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. “We’re only defeated when we believe those that tell us that we can never dream of a better Canada, a fairer Canada, a more compassionate Canada.”
He also congratulated Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying that it is an important job to protect Canada’s sovereignty from the threats of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, while the votes were still being counted, the NDP was on track to lose official party status in the House by taking fewer than a dozen seats, and lose a couple of heavyweight MPs. Liberal Wade Chang was leading in Singh’s former Burnaby seat, which he had held since 2019, followed by Conservative James Yan.
The NDP’s struggles were apparent early in the campaign, and the party never found a way to recover.
For many Canadians, the election centred on one question: who is best to deal with Trump, and his tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty?
Polls showed the vast majority of Canadians preferred Carney or Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Singh never figured into that equation.
Singh pivoted during the campaign to pitch Canadians on electing enough NDP MPs to hold the balance of power, noting that his party was able to compel the minority Liberals to introduce dental care and pharmacare legislation.
Singh repeatedly declined to force an election while former Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was in power, noting that doing so would have almost certainly resulted in a Conservative majority, and he “could not stomach that.” He also defended working with Trudeau for as long as he deemed possible under the previous minority Parliament.
During this campaign, Singh said he wouldn’t support a Conservative minority government but didn’t rule out once again propping up the Liberals.
“Obviously, I'm disappointed that we could not win more seasons, but I'm not disappointed in our movement,” said Singh in his speech. “I'm hopeful for our party. I know that we will always choose hope over fear, and optimism over despair, and unity over hate.”
