Jagmeet Singh met 5 undecided Canadian voters. Here's what happened
The conversation was the fourth and final instalment of The National's Face to Face series
New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh sat down with five undecided voters from across the country to answer questions about how he would tackle the issues that matter most to them.
Thursday's exchange was the fourth and final instalment of The National Presents: Face to Face with the Federal Party Leaders — a CBC News feature that gives five undecided voters five minutes each to grill one of the four federal party leaders.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's time in the hot seat came Monday and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer had his turn Tuesday. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May's Face to Face special was recorded on Tuesday but broadcast on CBC on Wednesday.
One of the undecided voters who spoke to Singh was Lauren Tintoni, 40, from Toronto. She is married with a three-year-old son and has concerns about Singh's ability to roll out his national child-care plan in time for her to have a second child.
Tintoni asked Singh specifically where he would find the money in the budget to pay for the $10 billion national child-care program that he has promised in his party's platform.
Watch: Singh answers questions on his national child care plan from Toronto's Lauren Tintoni:
Deena Barakat, 32, from Toronto, is a new Canadian who immigrated from Sudan and is about to vote in her first federal election. A qualified lawyer, Barakat, said with the world getting smaller she wants a larger role for Canada on the world stage.
Barakat asked Singh how he would be able to play a role in the world in light of his controversial foreign policy positions, such as hoping U.S. President Donald Trump is impeached and cancelling the Saudi LAV deal, that are sure to garner blowback from Canada's allies.
Watch: Singh answers questions from Deena Barakat on his leadership credentials:
Sunny Rajwan, 37, from Abbotsford B.C. is married with one child and he and his wife are expecting a second. An accountant and financial analyst, Rajwan said he is most concerned with how Singh plans to pay for election promises such as pharmacare, free university tuition, subsidized child care and dental care.
Watch: Singh answers questions on government spending from Sunny Rajwan:
David Aspinall, an independent business owner from Montreal in his fifties, has two children in their 20s. He said he has serious concerns about what he claims are the negative impacts on small business of companies such as Amazon and Google that he said are not adequately taxed in Canada.
Watch: Singh answers questions on digital competitiveness from David Aspinall:
Farheen Lakhani, 35, from Toronto is a single investment banker. She says that she has voted both Liberal and NDP in the past and is considering the NDP again, but has concerns that Singh does not have the leadership qualities to deliver on his promises.
Watch: Singh answers questions on leadership from Farheen Lakhani:
This week on The National Presents: Face to Face with the Federal Party Leaders:
- Monday, Sept. 30: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.
- Tuesday, Oct. 1: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
- Wednesday, Oct. 2: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.
Methodology:
The undecided voters chosen to question the leaders have been carefully selected from across the country and represent the diversity of the electorate groups — regionally, racially and ethnically, socio-economic, different ages, different priorities. Each voter is undecided, but open to voting for the leader they are across from and looking for the answers they need for a question that relates to their lives.
We invited leaders who are running national campaigns. We provided a date range in order to have them all recorded and aired in the span of one week. Mr. Bernier initially declined our offer to participate due to scheduling issues and we have since invited him for an interview later in the campaign. Mr. Blanchet was not invited as the Bloc Quebecois is only running candidates in one province.
