NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s big victory (first non-white, first ethnic-Canadian, first turbaned Sikh-Canadian national party leader to win a seat in the House of Commons) comes at a perfect time when the government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing the wrath of the opposition and losing voter support over their handling of the SNC Lavalin corruption scandal. Singh won easily in Burnaby-South despite diotic Conservative candidate Jay Shin’s laughable attempt to get NDP votes. He put out  absolutely disgraceful and racist pamphlets against Singh. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is saying Trudeau has lost the moral right to rule but where is Scheer in not condemning his own candidate over the racist flyers. Scheer and the Conservatives also called out Liberal candidate Jati Sidhu this week for being critical of Raybould, saying his comments were misognist but their own candidate Shin is putting out racist flyers and the Conservative party doesn’t even blink an eye. Absolutely shameful!

By R. Paul Dhillon                                                                                               PHOTOS By Sukhwant Singh Dhillon

VANCOUVER – NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s historic and decisive win in the Burnaby byelection on Monday evening despite Conservative party candidate’s last minute racist and mean-spirited flyers at least lifts a big monkey off of Singh’s back after rightwing media tried to write him off with their usual propaganda.

And Singh’s big victory (first non-white, first ethnic-Canadian, first turbaned Sikh-Canadian national party leader to win a seat in the House of Commons) comes at a perfect time when the government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing the wrath of the opposition and losing voter support over their handling of the SNC Lavalin corruption scandal brought on by devastating testimony from the government’s own former Attorney General Judy Wilson-Raybould, who hammered PMO and other party members for pressuring her to give SNC a deferred prosecution because otherwise there was a prospect of Canada losing thousands of jobs and the company relocating to another shore.

Singh won easily in Burnaby-South despite diotic Conservative candidate Jay Shin’s laughable attempt to get NDP votes. He put out  absolutely disgraceful and racist pamphlets against Singh. The flyer read: “Polling shows the best way to defeat Jagmeet Singh is to lend your vote to the Conservatives,” reads the flyer. “Defeat Jagmeet Singh so the NDP can get a new leader.” The Shin campaign confirmed Sunday the flyer originated from them

The pamphlets probably helped Singh get more NDP vote out but you have to wonder how these rightwing Conservatives think – how you can get votes by actually telling NDP supporters to defeat their own candidate so that they can get a new leader – meaning a non-turbaned white guy (veiled but very racist). Absolutely shameful!

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is saying Trudeau has lost the moral right to rule but where is Scheer in not condemning his own candidate over the racist flyers – no leader except Singh for now can absolutely say that they have the moral right as both Conservatives and Liberals have shown that moral compass is absolutely not the requisite to govern Canada.

Scheer and the Conservatives also called out Liberal candidate Jati Sidhu this week for being critical of Raybould, saying his comments were misognist but their own candidate Shin is putting out racist flyers and the Conservative party doesn’t even blink an eye.

It’s typical of Conservatives to sink so low to try and win and that’s why despite Trudeau Liberals’ troubles, they have no chance of forming the government. Why don’t they play fair – maybe then Canadians can consider them as an alternative to Liberals and the NDP.

Jay Shin should be ashamed of himself and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer should call him out on this. Completely ridiculous! And the desperate and dying Vancouver Sun actually endorsed this Jay Shin as their choice in Burnaby-South. It shows that the Sun will endorse any right wing nut.

Getting back to Singh’s victory – the stylish Singh and his supporters were partying late into the night on Monday after cruising to victory with 39 percent of the vote.

“Friends, we made history today,” he told supporters gathered at NDP headquarters Monday night.

“I want you to know that when I take my seat in the House of Commons, I will work hard to make you all very proud.”

With ballots counted by 10pm Monday night (not including mail in), Singh had 8,566 of votes (38 per cent – eventually he finished with 39 percent) over Liberal rival Richard T. Lee’s 5,750 (26 per cent). And foolish Conservative candidate Shin had 5,006 votes at that time. The People’s Party of Canada’s candidate had a very good showing. The former Conservative Maximew Bernier’s new party canddiate Laura-Lynn Thompson got 2,357 votes (11 percent of the vote) and the party could help Scheer Conservatives lose many seats in the October election if this voter trend continued.

In his acceptance speech, Singh promised to fight for better health care, jobs, affordable housing and a clean environment.

“These basic things didn’t just disappear. This didn’t happen by accident. This was a concerted decision made by consecutive Liberal and Conservative governments,” he said.

“We have eight more months to show people that there is a better choice for Canadians – that people can vote for those who are on their side.”

Singh also thanked his political rivals for the “very important contribution to the democratic process.”

Singh, who became NDP leader in the fall of 2017, is the first visible minority member to lead a federal party in Canada.

“When I was growing up, I could have never imagined someone like me ever running to be prime minister,” he said Monday. “But guess what. We just told a lot of kids out there that, ‘Yes, you can.'”

The 40-year-old announced his intention to run in Monday’s byelection back in August in a speech centred around a promise to pressure Ottawa into timelier action on issues including housing and Pharmacare, reported Canadian Press.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the byelection in early January.

Singh had similar criticism of the federal government’s $40-billion affordable housing strategy.

He reiterated those priorities during Monday’s vote, telling CTV he’s had a “great time” connecting with the community while campaigning.

“There are folks who worry about the future and are struggling. I’m in it for them,” he said.

“I want them to know that they matter and I am going to fight hard for better housing, for expanding our health care system to include medications and to transform our economy to a green economy where we do more for more people.”

Now that the proverbial monkey is off Singh’s back – he’s got a lot of work to do to get the party ready for the October election, especially when it comes to fundraising.

Yearly donations to the federal NDP have tanked from $18.6 million in 2015 to about $5 million last year, according to fundraising returns filed with Elections Canada. The party subsequently mortgaged its Ottawa headquarters — the Jack Layton building — for $12 million.