Guy Caron appointed house leader of the NDP by the new chief Jagmeet Singh

Photo Agence QMI, Toma Iczkovits

Maxime Huard

Wednesday, 4 October 2017 12:12

UPDATE
Wednesday, 4 October 2017 13:34

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OTTAWA, on | In a first gesture of openness towards Quebec, the new leader of the New democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh has appointed Wednesday, the deputy quebec-Guy Caron to the position of government house leader of the official opposition.

“I wanted to show the importance of Quebec as a nation,” said Mr. Singh in his first media scrum in the precincts of the Parliament. The leader of the NDP had already said on Sunday night, after his election to the head of the formation, that it would seek to reach out to Quebecers.

By the appointment of Mr. Caron, who will be his voice in the Commons, Jagmeet Singh has also said that he wanted to “reflect the values of the party”. During the leadership campaign néodémocrate, the two politicians, however, were opposed on the question of religious signs. They have sought Wednesday to put those differences aside.

“We can work together on this,” said Guy Caron. The member of parliament for the region of Rimouski was stated during the race to respect the right of Quebec to legislate on issues of secularism, while Mr Singh had initially said he would challenge the draft law in quebec on the religious neutrality. He has since done an about-face and rallied to the position of Guy Caron.

Mr Singh, a man belonging to the sikh religion who wear the turban and the kirpan, has also reiterated that the issue of religious signs would not adversely affect the chances of his training in Quebec. “Quebec is recognized in the values of the party. We will not only keep our seats in the province, but we will go look for more,” he argued.

No other amendment to the parliamentary positions within the NDP has not been announced Wednesday. Ads are however to predict, especially about the two other defeated candidates to the chieftaincy, Charlie Angus and Niki Ashton, and some big names in the party, as the member for Rosemont Alexandre Boulerice.

Jagmeet Singh was elected leader of the NDP in the first round of voting last Sunday with more than 50 % of the vote. He is currently member of provincial parliament in Ontario and does not sit in the House of commons.