NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has outlined his party’s strategy to protect Canada from the economic fallout of Donald Trump’s escalating trade war, as the U.S. president prepares to introduce new tariffs.
Speaking in Winnipeg alongside NDP candidates Leila Dance and Niki Ashton, Singh emphasized policies such as increasing employment insurance payments, expanding job creation through an east-west electricity grid, and reinvesting tariff revenues into affected industries like steel and auto manufacturing.
Trump is set to announce his latest round of “reciprocal” tariffs, though it remains uncertain whether his temporary halt on broader tariffs for Canada and Mexico will end. Singh framed the NDP as the only party truly defending Canadian workers amid growing trade tensions.
“We want to make it very clear that we’re going to defend the things that we have. We’re going to defend our public health care, we’re going to defend our public utilities,” Singh stated, warning that the U.S. has shown interest in privatizing key Canadian assets.
The NDP leader also promised a no-trade clause on critical minerals, cultural sectors, and public hydro, though he did not clarify how this would affect existing agreements, such as Manitoba Hydro’s contracts with U.S. buyers.
Calling Trump “an arsonist,” Singh accused him of “setting fire to the economy—his own economy, and ours as well.”
As part of the NDP’s broader affordability platform, Singh reiterated previous pledges to remove GST from essentials like home heating, pre-made grocery meals, and children’s clothing, while also proposing a cap on staple grocery prices and an expansion of health programs such as dental care.
Source: Swifteradio.com
