Jagmeet Singh

Jagmeet Singh was born in Scarborough, Ontario, on 2 January 1979. A lawyer who wears a turban, he became the first person of colour outside the Indigenous community to lead one of Canada's three main federal parties, as The Caravan put it. He sat in the Ontario legislature for Bramalea-Gore-Malton from 2011 to 2017 and led the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2017 to 2025.

He belongs in this record because he made the 1984 killings of Sikhs a matter of legislative debate in Canada, and because his stand cost him entry to India. In December 2013 he said he owed his success to his "principles and beliefs in Sikhi" when accepting a community award by videoconference (The Caravan).

• December 2013: India refused him a visa although he had visited earlier that year. No official reason was given and many linked it to his campaign on 1984. India's consul-general in Canada said that people "who seek to undermine" Indian institutions were "misusing the pretext of human rights" (The Caravan).
• June 2016: as deputy leader of the Ontario NDP he moved a motion to recognise the 1984 Sikh genocide. The Liberal government opposed it (Ontario NDP release).
• 6 April 2017: the legislature passed a similar motion moved by Harinder Malhi, with 34 members in favour and five against, as the Hansard records. The Tribune reported 35 in favour. India rejected the motion as "misguided" (The Tribune). Singh spoke for it and said that acknowledging injustice is "a precondition for healing and reconciliation" (Ontario NDP release).
• 1 October 2017: elected NDP leader (The Caravan). 25 February 2019: won the Burnaby South by-election and entered the House of Commons (Global News).
• 4 September 2024: ended the agreement under which the NDP had backed the Liberal government since March 2022 (Radio Canada International).
• 28 April 2025: lost his seat in Burnaby Central as the NDP fell to seven seats and lost official party status, and said he would step down once an interim leader was named (Humber ETC). Avi Lewis was elected leader on 29 March 2026 (CP24).

Opinions on him differ. After he said that self-determination is a basic right that could apply to Quebec, Catalonia or Punjab, Punjab politicians including Captain Amarinder Singh, the Akali Dal and Bhagwant Mann of the Aam Aadmi Party rejected his view (Newslaundry). The Caravan reports that in a CBC interview the day after his leadership win he repeatedly declined to denounce posters honouring Talwinder Singh Parmar, whom it describes as the mastermind of the 1985 Air India bombing, and that reaction to the questioning was mixed.