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Communities and workers should be partners at the table, not waiting on the sidelines while government and the fossil fuel industry dictate climate policy.
I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no way I would ever accept austerity.
My belief in human rights includes a fundamental principle that is written into Article 1 of the UN Charter: respect for equal rights and self-determination.
For any kid who feels like a newcomer, who feels like they don't belong, my candidacy says, 'Not only do you belong, you can also aspire to run this country.'
It's hard to love yourself when you've been told your whole life that there is something wrong with you - when you are called dirty because of your skin color.
In the Sikh tradition there is no prohibition of showing your hair. It's not that hair cannot be seen. It's an identity, as opposed to having to cover your hair.
Let me assure you that New Democrats will support a bold agenda to tackle inequality, even though it is certain to encounter strong opposition from vested interests.
We need to truly understand what economic injustice and inequality looks like for hard-working Canadians grappling with it every day on the ground, at home and at work.
I have experienced things that I think many Canadians have gone through - the feeling of not belonging, the feeling of being a victim, of being hurt, being marginalized.
While I was in university, my father became very ill and my father was unable to work. We needed to pay the bills, so in my 20s I became the sole income earner in my family.
I am focused on building a stronger Canada, a country where we tackle growing inequality, where we unlock the full potential of our citizens and where no one is left behind.
I was a little bit of a precocious kid, in the sense I loved reading, and I loved health and - my dad being a doctor - I really wanted to learn more about how the body worked.
If someone is being misogynistic, you have to name it. It's not convenient to talk about discrimination, but if you don't do it, you allow it to exist. So you have to name it.
I hope I represent a type of politics where we bring people together, where we inspire people - and we do it with this motivation of building a world that's better for everybody.
If someone doesn't like Saudi Arabia's human rights record, that doesn't mean that you are in any way attacking Muslims. You're attacking a government's policies and track record.
If you need medication in our country, we want to make sure you use your health card, not your credit card. That means a national publicly delivered single payer pharmacare for all.
We need to start looking at some of the root causes of division. And one of the reasons why people are exploited to hate, to fear others is that people are afraid in their own lives.
I denounce anyone, anyone held responsible for any act of violence perpetrated against any innocent lives. It is just unacceptable. It is, fundamentally, something that we all denounce.
If I want back in time and said 'Hey, 10-year-old Jagmeet, you're gonna grow up and in 30 years you're gonna be the leader of a national party.' I'd be like 'What are you talking about?'
No climate plan can leave workers and communities behind nor trample the rights of Indigenous communities. Canadians must have opportunity and income security during economic transformation.
Beyond advocating for greater access to consumer markets abroad, we need to go one step further and advocate for a higher quality of life for the people who are the driving force behind them.
A beard and a turban sometimes conjure up negative associations, but if you see someone with a lime-colored, bright orange or pink turban, it disarms people's stereotyped notion of this image.
There is an ancient tradition of how to tie the topknot that gets passed down from parent to child. In my case, my mom taught me it. So this is a tradition, and not all Sikhs know it actually.
There's no excuse in 2019, with the wealth we have as a nation, with the technology we have as a country, that we cannot clean this water, ensure that all communities have clean drinking water.
It's no secret that there are people who would like to narrow our discussions on climate change to a debate about pipelines alone in an attempt to divide Canadians - to pit workers against environmentalists.
I can tell you as a leader of a party that I'm fundamentally opposed to violence, fundamentally opposed to any innocent lives being taken, fundamentally opposed to any violence being perpetrated against people.
Make it so people can actually find good housing, can find good quality jobs and can afford to live - then we can weaken the climate of insecurity and fear that allow people to be exploited to increase division.
The same way I'm not afraid of calling out systemic discrimination, I'm also not afraid of calling out inequality and the fact that inequality is growing in society and that affects everybody, regardless of race.
Tax avoidance and evasion by the rich undermine democracy by starving social programs and public services. They also send a message to ordinary citizens that the rules of the economic game are rigged against them.
Why is it that we ask the question about whether or not Indigenous people should have clean drinking water? We've got to take a minute and think why is that even a question. Yes, they deserve clean drinking water.
If we have an agreement with a country like Mexico, that doesn't support or protect the rights of workers, that doesn't have the same environmental regulations, how can Canadians ever compete with that jurisdiction?
I came from a tradition of demonstrations and protests, and I really believe in them. I think they are powerful ways of bring people together, to organize, to raise awareness, and most importantly to empower people.
Air India happened when I was about five years old but... I've attended memorials with respect to the victims and the families, the survivors of this horrible and heinous act. I've talked about how everyone denounces it.
My dad struggled younger in his life and eventually had become very well settled and bought a nice car for himself. And every now and then I'd take it for a spin and, almost without fail, if I took his car I'd get pulled over.
It's one thing to say you're feminist, but then what does that mean? Not selling arms to a regime that is the most repressive and probably one of the worst human rights violators, particularly towards women, like Saudi Arabia?
For me, style wasn't something that was a luxury or an option, really: It was a necessity. I knew that there were certain negative stereotypes that I faced because of the way I looked. For me, suits and style became social armour.
When projects like a pipeline are imposed on a province without a buy-in, without a collaborate approach, they just don't go ahead. What happens is they get caught up in court, there's court challenges, the project doesn't proceed.
While people might talk about the divisions in this country, what I've seen is that across this country, we share so much in common, we share so many values, we want to take care of one another - that's what it means to be Canadian.
People shouldn't be forced to chose between paying for rent or paying for medication. They deserve a government ready to take on Big Pharma by implementing health coverage, starting by extending pharmacare coverage to every Canadian.
The ability to become more accessible, to spread a message further, and to share stories at a faster rate are great things to come from social media. As politicians, we have another platform with which we can reach people but also listen to them.
If the concern is security, there needs to be evidence-backed policies to increase security and safety, while maintaining our liberties and freedoms. Policies that clamp down on freedoms and don't increase security empirically need to be outright rejected.
My style has allowed me to tear down barriers in day-to-day life with people who would otherwise have a negative stereotype of someone who wears a turban, but also to speak to people on Bay Street, professionals who don't really think of New Democrats as an option.
I am hoping that by breaking barriers myself, I can inspire a whole new generation of people to think 'you know what, maybe I can, not just run a country, maybe I could start a company, maybe I could do something in my own local community to make a positive change.'
One of the things that I wanted to do in all aspects of my life is to tear down barriers. And, I feel those barriers exist for any racialized person. They particularly exist for people who are very visible, so a visible minority or someone who expresses their faith visibly.
There are a lot of people who can't find housing, who worry about the future, and that insecurity and precarity in their own lives is being exploited by some politicians who are using it to divide us by saying, 'hey it's the fault of new Canadians, it's the fault of refugees, it's the fault of Muslims.'
Social media enables us to talk about issues, shine a light on problems, and raise awareness of struggles that might have gone unnoticed. On the flipside, it also allows for a lot of noise and distractions. Sometimes it doesn't create the best environment for a healthy discussion and can lead to trolling.
As Canadians who proudly demand the equal treatment of minorities, religious freedom, gender equality and basic human rights for its citizens - allowing our political leaders to shamefully ignore these values in the name of business abroad, falls short of the high standard we rightfully set for ourselves.
Increasingly, we're seeing two worlds in Canada. The world for most Canadians is increasingly unaffordable, involves more precarious work, and is a harder place in which to get by. The second world is an exclusive club for the wealthy and well-connected who get special access and are exempt from rules the rest of us play by.
Sikhs were considered the champions of fairness, uplifting people, protecting and defending human rights. Defending equality. So when someone sees a Sikh, the turban identifies a person who's going to stand up for rights, even if you disagree with them. The turban is supposed to be a beacon. That someone who is going to help you out.