How Jagmeet Singh dropped the ball on SNC-Lavalin

Upon being elected as an MP for Burnaby South many commentators expected a reversal in NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s fortunes.

For a while, Singh was plagued with a lackluster public performance and an image failing to capture the quality of leadership so desperately sought out by Canadians in today’s political climate.

Now that he had finally secured a seat in the house, he would have his moment to shine, and that moment came with SNC-Lavalin, or so people thought.

Unfortunately, however, Singh’s performance throughout the scandal has been second rate.

In the latest turn of events Singh took to social media to comment on the ejection of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal cabinet.

“You deserve better,” said Jagmeet Singh, without offering much of an alternative.

Singh, like Trudeau is confronted with a party that is losing members and candidates at an alarming rate, and like the PM his credibility as a leader is under question.

The NDP has seen several MPs abandon reelection, including star MP Nathan Cullen, who was himself the strongest NDP voice on the justice committee.

The SNC-Lavalin fiasco provided the NDP with a perfect opportunity to take a front seat in offering a left-wing alternative to Liberal corruption while also bolstering Singh’s image as a strong and capable leader.

However, throughout the past few months, the dialogue has become so bipartisan that the event has morphed into a classic Liberal-Conservative showdown.

In some cases, Singh has opted to take the lead of Andrew Scheer, even co-authoring a letter with the opposition leader.

Even in polls the NDP have failed to take advantage of a wounded Liberal party. The latest Nanos poll reported the NDP at 17 percent, which is marginally worse than the 18 percent polling in December.

Time and time again, Singh has failed to stand up to the plate and his party has suffered because of it.