Singh reaffirms Brampton infrastructure commitments even in a coalition, but funding details remain vague 

Minority governments are hard to plan for and setting them up can kill off a whole range of campaign promises.  When faced with negotiations, the junior partners in a coalition are often forced to choose only a few key policies to save from their platform, allowing others to fall by the wayside in order to obtain power in government. 

With the NDP looking ever-more likely to hold the balance of power on the morning of October 22, many are wondering which of their promises will be kept and what will be forsaken. 

A new hospital and a university campus for Brampton are two promises which party Leader Jagmeet Singh has committed to keeping regardless of what the shape of government looks like after the election. Speaking to reporters in Brampton East during his third visit to the city this campaign, Singh was asked if he could guarantee in a minority government “those two promises would be delivered.”

“Those are commitments I’ve made, those are things that are important to me,” Singh said, responding to the question from The Pointer. “I know how much Brampton has been neglected and ignored. Whether there are Liberals or Conservatives they take Brampton for granted and that has to end. With a New Democratic government, that ends right away. But no matter what happens, with New Democrats fighting for you, that ends.”

The mechanics, though, of both infrastructure commitments remain unclear, despite Singh’s stated support for them. 

At a media roundtable event on Friday, which also took place in Brampton, the issue of the hospital was raised several times. One local journalist, Sanjiv Dhawan, a local educator who was representing Prime Asia Television, asked Singh if he could commit to delivering the hospital within two years, if elected. Though Singh said he could contribute his portion of federal funding from “Day 1”, he said the actual date of construction and full-funding would be in the hands of Ontario Premier Doug Ford. 

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at a roundtable in Brampton Friday with members of the South Asian-Canadian media

The journalist, who later told The Pointer he felt Singh was disrespectful in his conduct with another member of the South Asian-Canadian media at the roundtable who raised Dhawan's concern about getting the hospital built within two years, said he is simply trying to draw attention to a critical issue. He had wanted Singh to join him in a hunger strike outside Queen’s Park to force its construction. “I won’t do that, no,” Singh responded to Dhawan. “I don’t think it will help doing that.” 

Things were simpler on the second day of the campaign after the writ dropped. On September 12, Singh stood along the road outside Brampton Civic Hospital and promised the city a new hospital. At the time, it seemed like a “no ifs, no buts” kind of policy. During that announcement in front of a throng of media, Singh admitted to needing to work with the province, but said that any reasonable government would accept the funds, at the time implying full federal funding. 

Asked on Friday if he would provide federal funding for the entire project within two years, he declined to commit and said that much of the onus rests with the province. He told assembled reporters he had yet to meet with provincial partners on the topic, but pointed to lower federal funding in recent years as one of the reasons for the city’s healthcare crisis. The leader also seemed to take a step away from any implication of providing full federal funding.

“Initially it used to be a 50/50 split between the federal government and provincial government for funding for healthcare,” Singh said. “Over the years that funding balance has [been] cut. Over the years, Conservatives and Liberals have cut the funding. And now, what used to be [a] 50/50 [split] is 25 percent federal and 75 percent provincial, meaning half the money the federal government used to give has been cut.”

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath with her three Brampton members in the city early this year to advocate for better healthcare

Last fall Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath introduced a motion inside Queen’s Park to add funding for a new Brampton hospital into the 2019 provincial budget, but Ford and his PC government, including its two Brampton members, refused to support the motion, which was voted down by the majority party.

Over the weekend a spokesperson for the federal NDP reiterated the party’s commitment to a new hospital for Brampton, without providing details on a funding breakdown or timeline. “We’ve committed to getting a new hospital for the people of Brampton,” the spokesperson said. “We’re going to put money on the table to show that we’re serious about making life better for people in Brampton. We’re going to do what it takes to get the job done.”

Questions on a university campus and what the funding would look like also remain unanswered. Asked last week if the project was simply a case of providing the $90 million of funding which Doug Ford cancelled in 2018, NDP candidate for Brampton East Saranjit Singh did not provide specifics. Again though, the promise is clear – even if the party becomes the junior partner in a minority government coalition, the NDP is committed to bringing Brampton a new post-secondary campus and hospital. Currently, the city has less than half the number of hospital beds per capita compared to the Ontario average and is the largest municipality in Canada without a stand-alone university campus. 

Jagmeet Singh in front of Brampton Civic Hospital on the second day of the formal campaign

Some in the Flower City will find this re-commitment reassuring, with the NDP’s position on policies such as the transmountain pipeline already wavering. Though he told reporters on Saturday he remained “opposed” to the project, in an interview the day before Singh admitted the fate of the already purchased pipeline was more complicated. 

Minority government in general was the theme of his event in Brampton East. With the leader in town to help “get out the vote” in the particularly tight riding, reporters asked various questions about possible coalition government commitments and areas of compromise. 

As the NDP show some life in the polls following Singh’s performance in the English language leaders’ debate, he has started to open the door to his party’s support of a minority government. Attempting to remain staunch on his ultimate aim to become the leader of Canada’s 43rd Parliament, Singh relented somewhat in the face of reality. 

“I want to make it really clear, there is an incredible momentum that is building now. We’re seeing people across this country excited about our campaign because they’re seeing in us themselves… . I want to make it clear, my focus isn’t about me winning, my focus is on Canadians winning. I want to be their Prime Minister and I want to fight for their future, but either way we are putting forward some commitments. Get out and vote – if you vote [for] enough New Democrats, we’ll get these things done… . Vote enough of us [in] – we’ll form government.” 

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @isaaccallan