Jagmeet Singh survived a vote of confidence in his leadership at his party’s convention on the weekend – though his support among NDP members has taken a hit.
Singh received the support of 81% of the convention’s delegates on Saturday, a decrease over his last two reviews.
In 2018, Singh received 91% support from party delegates and 87% support in 2021. This represents the lowest level of support for the NDP leader since a majority of party members rejected Tom Mulcair’s leadership in 2016.
Despite the declining confidence in Singh’s leadership among the party membership, Singh declared a “strong mandate” from his party.
“I got a strong mandate and New Democrats are saying get out and work harder,” said Singh after the vote.
A major source of contention for the NDP has been its supply and confidence agreement with the governing Trudeau Liberals, which promises that the Liberals and NDP work together on a common set of policy goals in return for the NDP’s loyalty on confidence votes.
Some NDP members voiced their concerns with the supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals, saying that the agreement has not produced the left-wing policy objectives that they had hoped for.
The B.C. NDP representative for women, Kristene Wickner, told CBC she is disappointed in the absence of a wealth tax and hopes the NDP becomes more ideologically left-wing.
“I think a lot of us are looking for the party at the federal level to occupy a truly left space. And I think Canadians want that, too,” said Wickner.
“When I talk to my friends who are not super partisan … they don’t really understand, at a fundamental level, the difference between the Liberal Party and the NDP. They don’t see why they would vote for the NDP.”
NDP delegates passed a resolution to force the party leadership to pressure the Liberals to make substantive progress to implementing a national pharmacare and dental care plan under the threat of withdrawal from the supply and confidence agreement.
The NDP convention also saw significant debate over Israeli-Palestinian issues in light of Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians earlier this month.
During the convention, a significant amount of pro-Palestinian protesters entered the convention venue and attempted to march onto the convention floor before they were stopped.
Singh told his party’s members that there is no justification for the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli citizens, drawing a round of applause.
However, Singh drew a much louder and longer round of applause when he called for an “immediate end of the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza,” illustrating the NDP membership’s disapproval of Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza.
The NDP passed an emergency resolution reiterating the party’s denouncement of Hamas’ terrorist attacks while calling for an end to “Israel’s total siege of Gaza.”
One delegate proposed that the resolution add wording that Palestinians are living in an “apartheid state,” though the proposition was voted down.
