Jagmeet Singh retracts offensive racist anti-Conservative statement

During a campaign stop Welland, Ont on October 17, 2019, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was asked if he would respect a hypothetical Conservative majority.

Responding to the question, “Just to be clear, you will not respect if Andrew Scheer wins the most seats, you will not allow him to form government, you will oppose that,” Jagmeet Singh said: “We don’t respect Conservatives. No.”

A day later Jagmeet Singh retracted his offensive anti-Conservative statement: “I believe that we need to build a country where we welcome everybody, we respect everybody, and I feel bad about what I said. We’re going to have differences of opinions. I want to make it clear: Our whole movement has been about making sure people feel welcome, they feel accepted and people should be accepted no matter what their political views are.”

The Ontario Human Rights Commission defines “race” as “a social construct” based on the understanding that “society forms ideas of race based on geographic, historical, political, economic, social and cultural factors, as well as physical traits, even though none of these can be used to justify racial superiority or racial prejudice.”

According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, “Racism is a broader experience and practice than racial discrimination. Racism is a belief that one group is superior to others… It can also be more deeply rooted in attitudes, values and stereotypical beliefs.”

Based on the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s definition of racism, Jagmeet Singh’s statement “we don’t respect Conservatives” is not only offensive but also may fall under the category of racism.

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