On Tuesday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled the Trudeau government's latest budget. The question for this old NDP sympathiser is this; bad as it is, what is Jagmeet Singh going to do with it? I’m convinced, now more than ever, that Jagmeet Singh has entirely lost the plot.That is, instead of worrying about what he’s supposed to be doing in Parliament, he is singularly focused — obsessed even — with Galen Weston.With all that could have been said about the 2024 tax, borrow and spend budget, this is what Jagmeet actually posted to Twitter ("X"):“The Conservative handouts will continue. Justin Trudeau will keep Pierre Poilievre’s $60 billion in taxpayer handouts to corporations. Thanks to Pierre and Justin, it’s a good day for Greedy Galen Weston and a bad day for you.”I actually had to go back a few times to make sure that the post wasn’t from a parody account. It wasn’t.It’s unlikely that I, along with every other columnist and political observer in the country, missed Pierre Poilievre giving away $60 billion in corporate handouts. For one, that isn’t within the purview of the leader of the Opposition and two, there would have been, at a minimum, a Special Rapporteur appointed to investigate it.Which is why if you told me that Jagmeet Singh wakes up and eats his Alphabet cereal looking for hidden messages from Weston in the jumble of milk-sodden letters, I wouldn’t doubt it for a second.That is the level at which the grocery pre-occupation exists for Jagmeet Singh.The problem is that when you’re so incredibly focused on one thing, you often lose sight of the bigger picture. The bigger picture for Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have lost sight of is establishing themselves as a viable and distinct entity capable of forming government — not a tool to prop one up.What they need to do is take a page from their prairie provincial counterparts in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.Premier Wab Kinew led his Manitoba NDP Party to a solid victory in that province's 2023 election. Likewise, in Saskatchewan, Carla Beck and her NDP have been steadily gaining in the polls and stand poised to replace Premier Scott Moe and his long incumbent Saskatchewan Party later this fall.Both Kinew and Beck have made efforts to distance themselves from the federal NDP and neither has engaged in a personal and protracted campaign against grocery CEO’s.Carla Beck and the Sask. NDP went so far as to cancel their plans to invite Singh to their 2022 convention, for fears the federal part was hurting the provincial party’s electoral chances. Ouch.Jagmeet Singh may want to try and emulate his prairie colleagues, and there are signs that he may try.Last week the NDP leader and his party floated a less than resolute position of support for the carbon tax. Their announcement that “It’s not the “be-all, end-all” to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions brought terse words of derision from the prime minister.However, this is a substantial back pedal on a position that they previously campaigned on in 2019.It is likely due in part to Abacus polling released on April 11 that showed the committed vote intention towards the NDP dipped to 17%. That’s the lowest it’s been since Sept 2022. The fact that Premier Kinew intends to ask Ottawa to remove the carbon tax from Manitoba might have also been a factor.But any change he tries to effect now may be too late: it’s likely the die is cast for the hapless NDP leader.When he’s not out stumping against grocery CEO’s, he’s bemoaning the actions of the government he’s propping up. Yet after all the righteous indignation and bluster has died away, he and his party reliably vote to support them. It’s as predictable as the sun setting.Jagmeet has essentially written himself into the Canadian political drama as the stereotypical tragic character. He’s obsessed with someone who barely knows they exist and is loyal to a fault to a friend who doesn’t deserve his support.As a result he is more of a punchline, than the potential powerhouse that he could be.If he wants to break the mold, Jagmeet Singh needs to drop his fixation on Galen Weston and vote against the 2024 budget when it comes before the house.
