The NDP Is So Broke, Jagmeet Singh Isn't Being Paid

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is still refusing a paycheque due to the dire financial state of his party.

The NDP received less than a million dollars in fundraising for the second quarter of this year, according to Elections Canada. That’s compared to over $3 million the Liberal party raised, and over $6 million the Conservative party fundraised in the same quarter, which ended in June. As of July, the party still had roughly $3-million in debt from the 2015 federal election.

Singh’s press secretary said that the party’s leader has never taken a salary from the NDP and doesn’t plan to until the party’s financial state “significantly” improves, the Toronto Star reported in July.

Since Singh has yet to be elected to the House of Commons, he is not currently on public payroll.

Though the NDP’s fundraising this quarter fell short of a million dollars, it’s better than what it raised in the same quarter last year. During the first quarter of this year, the NDP fundraised over $1.3 million. These trends, said Guillaume Francoeur, a spokesperson for the NDP, are “encouraging,” The Canadian Press reports. Singh became leader of the party in October 2017.

"It's also important to note that we have an internal policy of not fundraising in a province that is in the midst of an election period. It's just one way we supported [Ontario NDP Leader] Andrea Horwath in her mission to take on Doug Ford,” Francoeur told CP.

Unfortunately for Singh, the federal Liberals have yet to crack down on unpaid internships as promised.

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