Jagmeet Singh on Omicron, Trans Mountain and his stance on Bill 21

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on his year in politics NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh opens up about navigating his party through a pandemic and the fallout of another disappointing federal election.

At the tail end of 2021, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh reflected on how far Canada has come in the fight against COVID-19, standing by his decision in telling his MPs not to travel due to the “evolving situation” with the Omicron variant.

Speaking to CTV’s Your Morning on Friday, Singh discussed the renewed federal public health advisory to avoid non-essential international travel, as well as rapid tests and booster shots.

Singh also doubled down on his stance regarding the Trans Mountain pipeline, hammered the Liberals for what he described as inaction on the housing crisis and explained why he had evolved his stance on Quebec’s Bill 21.

Here is the full text of Singh’s interview with CTV’s Your Morning Host Anne-Marie Mediwake

Note: This transcript has been edited for length and grammar.

Mediwake: There are also some Canadians who are going to go ahead with their travel plans, saying ‘this is an advisory, this isn't a ban.’ So do we need to close the border again or impose stricter consequences? And will there be consequences for any of your employees if they choose to travel?

Singh: We've told our employees not to travel, given how serious things are looking. And I think we're in an evolving situation with the Omicron variant. We know that it's really infectious, so we're encouraging people [to] follow all the local health guidelines wherever you're living right now, whatever province you're in, whatever territory you're in. And what we're really focusing in on is that there are things that we know that work. We need to make sure we get the booster shot available to everybody. We need to make sure we have access to rapid tests. And we've got to make sure we invest in front-line health-care workers, those are the things that we're pushing for right now when it comes to travel. We want to always follow the advice of public health guidelines. And I think it makes a lot of sense for folks to consider staying at home, given how serious this is.

Mediwake: We also know that consequences work. Last year we saw some politicians lose their positions because they travelled when they were advised not to. So will there be consequences for any of your employees if they choose to travel?

Singh: We made it clear that our team is not to travel unless there's a clear reason, unless it's essential, and so far there's only one member of our team that has a really serious reason, a loved one who's really, really ill, that will be travelling, but otherwise people will be staying home.

Mediwake: Families are daily changing their plans for the holidays, given the news that's come out this week. I know that you have a very close-knit family. Have you changed any of your plans?

Singh: We're already planning to bubble and stay at home and not go out, so we're already making those plans. Someone asked me if I had any travel plans and I said, ‘if I travel, I may not be able to come home to my wife who's expecting.’ So we're certainly not travelling. We're awaiting the arrival of a new addition to our family and will be as careful and as cautious as we can while we wait.

Mediwake: NDP MP Peter Julian has tabled a motion to stop construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Now you've said you don't support the pipeline, so will you support Peter Julian's motion to halt construction?

Singh: We've always taken a position against the pipeline, something that we've always said is that it’s the wrong thing to do, the wrong investment to make, and it was a wrong decision of the government to purchase it. And so we're going to continue with our position on that when it comes to what we should be spending our money on. We should be spending our money on a plan for workers, a plan to make sure no worker is left behind and a plan to make sure we are creating an economy that helps us reduce emissions.

Mediwake: Fatemeh Anvari, the grade three teacher in Quebec who was removed from her role, her teaching role, because she wears hijab. There were renewed calls this week for the federal government to intervene on the provincial law that bans religious symbols during the election. You said that you didn't support a federal intervention on this bill. You are now supporting the call to intervene. Why is your stance changed?

Singh: Well, I've always been opposed to the bill, and I've always said it's discriminatory. And I think what's changed is having Fatemeh [being] a clear example of the injustice of this, has really mobilized a lot of people in Quebec. It's really mobilised a lot of people that have been fighting against this. And I want to make it really clear that for all those Quebecers, the three million that are opposed to this law and those Quebecers, that are fighting this law in court, if this case makes it to the federal court, then the federal government should intervene and support this Quebeckers who are opposed to this discrimination.

Mediwake: On Wednesday, the Canadian Real Estate Association said average home prices reached an all time high of more than $720,000. In the fiscal update, the government pointed to $70 billion that they invested through the National Housing Strategy. This is to support construction of up to 125,000 affordable homes. This is something that you are passionate about during the campaign. What else do you want the government to do to deal with unaffordability in the housing market?

Singh: First, you [must] acknowledge this is a serious crisis, and so far the Liberal government's approach hasn't been an approach that matches the severity of the crisis. There are a number of things we need to do. First off, there's the pressures that are driving up the cost of housing, and we want some concrete measures. A tax on foreign buyers nationally, a tax on property flippers and an end or a ban on blind bidding. These are three things that we've supported. These are things that the Liberal government promised to do, and we said we would support if they acted on. And they have yet to do anything. And we also need to invest massively in building more homes that are affordable. This two pronged approach is what we want to see, and we haven't seen the urgency that needs the seriousness of the crisis from the Liberal government so far.

Mediwake: So the $70 billion dollars is just not enough or just not being spent in the right way?

Singh: The urgency of that action is not up, so in terms of delivering that funding to municipalities, making sure we partner with provinces, that's not urgent enough. And secondly, this speculation side, they haven't moved on any of those commitments. We want to see a foreign buyers tax put in place immediately. There's no reason to delay. We want to see a tax on property flippers, those who are flipping properties to drive up the cost of housing. We need to see some deterrence on that and a ban to blind bidding. These are three measures that can be immediately implemented. The Liberal government knows that we support these measures. They have yet to put forward any of those measures. And that's really detrimental to our fight against the rising cost of housing, which is one of the biggest concerns that people have when we look at the inflation and the cost of living going up.

Mediwake: This is an exciting year for you and your wife. You're about to become parents. Your baby is due in late December. How are you feeling about becoming a dad?

Singh: I'm really stoked, I've always loved kids, and so it's something that I feel like I've always been ready to do, and as the eldest in my family, I've always had to take care of my younger siblings and often take care of my parents. I'm not in any ways nervous. I'm just excited. My wife sometimes tells me that it's a big, big step for her and she feels a little bit nervous. And I say, ‘you know, we've got this, we're ready for it.’ It's going to be exciting and we're looking forward to the next adventure.

Mediwake: I know you're very close with your father. Is there any advice that he's given you that you're looking forward to carrying out as a dad?

Singh: Yeah, we're really close, obviously, and we spend a lot of time together. My dad jokingly says, ‘don't do what I did, just do the opposite of what I did,’ and I say ‘come on dad, you did a great job.’