Ontario, 2 October(Wishav Warta): Jagmeet Singh, the first turban-wearing Sikh to sit in Ontario’s legislature, will now lead a federal political party with his victory in the NDP leadership race on Sunday. Singh, 38, won on the first ballot Sunday, taking 53 per cent of the vote to top MPs Charlie Angus, Niki Ashton and Guy Caron. Singh has represented the riding of Bramalea-Gore-Malton at Queen’s Park since 2011. The unmarried MPP served as the Ontario NDP party’s critic for justice and consumer services before party leader Andrea Horwath named him her deputy in 2015.
A criminal defence lawyer who speaks fluent French and Punjabi, Singh was born in Scarborough, Ontario, in 1979. Singh was raised in Newfoundland and Labrador while his father, who trained as a psychiatrist in India, attended medical school there and worked as a security guard before he could practice in Canada. His family moved to Windsor, Ontario, when he was seven years old.
