NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh re-elected in Burnaby South

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been re-elected in his riding of Burnaby South, Global News projects.

Singh defeated Liberal Neelam Brar and Conservative Jay Shin to recapture the riding he first won in a byelection in February.

“When we get back to Ottawa, every single day that we’re in Parliament New Democrats are going to be working hard to make sure your life is better, that Canadians’ lives are better, that people’s lives are better,” Singh told supporters on Monday.

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The leader pledged to press the governing Liberals on a pharmacare system, clean drinking water for First Nations and on raising taxes for the country’s wealthiest.

“This has been an incredible night, an incredible campaign, an incredible journey, and it is such an amazing honour to be here in British Columbia with all of you.

The NDP leader remains new to British Columbia, having moved to the riding from his home in Ontario just before the byelection earlier this year.

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The former Ontario MPP, who led the NDP for nearly 18 months without a seat in the House of Commons, captured the riding after NDP stalwart Kennedy Stewart resigned to run for mayor of Vancouver.

Part of Singh’s promise to voters during the byelection was that he was going to continue to make Burnaby his home and run in the riding in October’s federal election.

Singh made campaigning in B.C. a priority, dedicating two solid weeks of cumulative campaign time criss-crossing ridings in Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the B.C. Interior.

Burnaby has long been fertile territory for the NDP.

The riding was created in the 2012 redistricting, drawn from Burnaby-Douglas and Burnaby-New Westimster, both of which have reliably sent New Democrats to Ottawa for decades.

In the run-up to the campaign, Singh faced criticism from some pundits for his apparently shaky control of his own caucus and a series of poorly received media interviews.

1:57 NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wraps up campaign in B.C.

However, Singh surprised many with his performance on the campaign trail, where he demonstrated a strong command of retail politics and was widely seen as the winner of the English language debate.

By late in the campaign, media was replete with talk of a “Singh surge” as the NDP’s polling numbers trended sharply upward, cutting into Liberal, Conservative and Green support.

Monday’s victory will likely help cement his leadership position, but how the party reacts may still depend on how it reacts to losing 15 seats.