Everyone laughed when Jagmeet Singh stood up in the HoC and proclaimed “When I become Prime Minister”, but there is a clear path to that outcome.
A recent poll by Nanos, published on Twitter by Polling Canada, shows the federal NDP within 4 percentage points in popular vote intentions of the Liberals, and they continue to gain. This poll shows the NDP up 6 points since the 2021 election while the Liberals fall 5 points.
With the Liberal party and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau facing increased voter dissatisfaction, mostly over the Chinese interference scandal, the NDP is positioning itself to take over as the official opposition when the next election is eventually called. Keep in mind that, due to the supply and confidence deal between the Liberals and NDP, Jagmeet Singh is in control of the timing of that election, at least until October 2025. This gives the NDP over 2 years to reverse it’s polling position with the Liberals. A timeline they likely won’t need to use up.
If Singh can position himself as leader of the official opposition in the next election, all he has to do is wait for Conservative support to slip, and it eventually will, to become the best choice for PM. It’s the result of the pendulum politics in Canada. The country swings back and forth from left to right, and from right to left on a regular basis.
At this point, that pendulum is swinging left to right, but make no mistake, it will eventually swing back the other way, with Jagmeet Singh positioned to capture it and make a serious run for Prime Minister. All he has to do is make sure that his party can take over as leader of the left from the Liberals, a task he is currently doing very well.
The next time Singh proclaims that when he is PM, don’t laugh. There is a path for that to happen, and he has that path marked and mapped.