About Jagmeet

43 years old

Hometown: Scarborough, Ontario

Jagmeet was born in Scarborough but lived as a young child in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador before moving with his family to Windsor, Ontario. Jagmeet completed a biology degree at the University of Western Ontario and studied law at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School. He worked as a criminal defence lawyer until he was elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament in the Brampton area in 2011. Before transitioning from provincial to federal politics in 2017, Jagmeet was the Deputy Leader of the Ontario NDP. He is fluent in four languages (English, French, Hindi, and Punjabi) and practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

If elected, an NDP government would introduce legislation committing to high-quality, public childcare, and would work with the provinces to create a $10-a-day childcare system for everyone.^[1][2]

An NDP government would ensure childcare workers are paid a living wage.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would continue subsidies for small businesses to help them pay rent and staff until they’re able to fully reopen after the pandemic. An NDP government would pay the money small businesses would usually have to pay into an employee’s EI or CPP for new or rehired staff, and would cap fees that businesses have to pay to credit card companies for sales at 1%.^[1][2]

An NDP government would organize a meeting for governments and industry and labour groups to come up with a National Automotive Strategy for attracting jobs and investment in Canada’s automotive industry. An NDP government would also bring back the Automotive Innovation Fund, which gave money to auto manufacturers to develop new technologies, and make these contributions tax-free.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would remove interest (borrowing charges) on all federal student loans, and cancel the repayment of up to $20,000 of student debt owed by graduates. An NDP government would also double the Canada Students Grant.^[1][2]

An NDP government would work towards moving postsecondary into the public K-12 education system.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% from 2005 levels by 2030. To get there, an NDP government would create a Climate Accountability Office, which would provide independent oversight of the federal government’s progress on responding to climate change, and recommend further actions. It would make sure the government’s financial controls and decisions, like who the Bank of Canada loans money to, are aligned with a goal of net-zero.^[1][2]

An NDP government would continue the federal price on carbon. An NDP government would also place a price on importing products from countries without a price on carbon emissions (charge on the sale of fossil fuels).^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would introduce an Environmental Bill of Rights to legally protect the rights of Canadians to a healthy environment.^[1][2]

An NDP government would protect 30% of Canada’s land, freshwater, and oceans by 2030; would start a 10-year plan to bring back species that are dying out; and would expand Indigenous Guardians programs.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would work with the provinces and territories to improve access to primary care, and reduce wait times for treatments or surgeries. This would include creating and funding a platform for doing virtual healthcare, and making a plan to recruit and maintain doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.^[1][2]

An NDP government would work with the provinces to put in place permanent, country-wide access to paid sick leave. Employers would pay an employee’s full amount of pay for a sick day, then would be paid back for the cost by the government. Until this new program is in place, an NDP government would keep the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, and immediately legislate 10 paid sick days for all federally-regulated workplaces.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would create 500,000 new affordable housing units within ten years, with half ready within five years. An NDP government would set up new fast-start funds to get quick funding to communities looking to build affordable housing, and would waive GST or the federal portion of HST on the construction of affordable rental units.^[1][2]

An NDP government would provide federally-owned land for new housing projects.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would remove caps on the number of applications that can be submitted to sponsor parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens to immigrate to Canada.^[1][2]

An NDP government would work through the backlog of asylum seekers, and would work with Canadians to resettle refugees in communities. An NDP government would also establish a clear and permanent way to resettle 2SLGBTQQIA+ refugees in Canada.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would work in partnership with Indigenous peoples to support Indigenous rights by putting in place the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and each of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.^[1][2]

An NDP government would create a National Council for Reconciliation, which would oversee the reconciliation process and would report to Parliament regularly. An NDP government would also work with Indigenous peoples to create a National Action Plan for Reconciliation to make sure Canada’s laws, policies, and practices uphold Canada’s human rights commitments.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would work towards global peace by supporting nuclear disarmament, recommitting to peacekeeping, and making sure Canadian-made weapons aren’t used in foreign conflicts or human rights abuses.^[1][2]

An NDP government would provide generous support for making vaccines freely available to the world’s most vulnerable people. An NDP government would also support waiving intellectual property restrictions on manufacturing vaccines, so that countries could make vaccines without having to get permission from the organisations that invented them.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would immediately pass laws to ban conversion therapy.^[1][2]

An NDP government would work with the provinces to make gender-affirming surgery and medication free and accessible everywhere in Canada. An NDP government would also put money towards the creation and expansion of shelters for transgender youth.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would work with the provinces to put in place a national pharmacare plan, with a $10 billion/year investment from the federal government.^[1][2]

An NDP government would also develop a national strategy to pay for costs of drugs for rare diseases.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would permanently double the Canada Community-Building Fund, which provides stable funding to Canadian municipalities for building infrastructure.^[1][2]

An NDP government would create a permanent funding mechanism for modern public transit. An NDP government would provide funding in particular to projects that seek to scale up low-carbon transit, including things like electric trains or zero-emissions busses. An NDP government’s goal would be to electrify transit by 2030.^[1][2]

If elected, an NDP government would work with Canada Post to implement postal banking.^[1][2]

An NDP government would work with the provinces to abolish the Senate.^[1][2]