Singh stops in Winnipeg, makes housing promises with Indigenous candidates

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh reiterated housing commitments as he made election campaign stops in Winnipeg ridings with significant Indigenous populations.

Singh’s first stop on the Manitoba leg of his campaign for the Sept. 20 vote was in Winnipeg North. The riding has been long held by Liberal Kevin Lamoureaux, but it has one of the lowest voting rates in the country.

New Democrat candidate Melissa Chung-Mowat, who is Chinese and Metis, has already spent significant time campaigning for the seat.

“It’s going to be a challenge but I believe in the NDP,” she said Thursday.

“I believe that we need to make change from the inside out. We need people in positions of power who can make that change.”

Singh was also to meet later in the day with Indigenous leaders at The Forks, a popular historic and tourist area in the city.

He was to be joined by candidate Leah Gazan, a member of the Wood Mountain Lakota Nation in Saskatchewan. She is running again in Winnipeg Centre, which she won in the last election.

Both the Liberals and Conservatives made stops in Winnipeg during the first week of the election campaign. At that time, Indigenous leaders joined Justin Trudeau for a brief meeting but said they had not had any communication with Erin O’Toole’s team.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada has said Indigenous women could play a significant role in deciding the vote.

“Indigenous women have waited long enough for the government of Canada to make our issues a priority,” said Lynne Groulx, the organization’s CEO.

“This election, we’re done asking, we’re voting. When political parties see us show up at the polls, they are going to have to start listening and taking action.”

Indigenous issues, highlighted throughout the campaign, have been at the forefront in Canada since thousands of unmarked graves were located at the sites of former residential schools across the country.

Last week, Singh was the first leader to campaign on a reserve when he visited the site of unmarked graves on the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan.

In Winnipeg, the NDP leader said his party is presenting an urban housing strategy for Indigenous people that will be made by Indigenous people. He did not reveal a cost for the party’s housing initiatives, which also includes doubling the first-time homebuyer credit and measures to lower mortgage payments.

“There’s been a lack of attention to the problem of a lack of housing for Indigenous communities and particularly outside of reserves, in major communities,” Singh said.