35model minority · reportageFEBRUARY 2018Since winning his seat in provincial parlia-
ment, Jagmeet has made outreach to traditionally
disadvantaged constituencies a hallmark of his
strategy. Jagmeet refers to the queer community
as “LGBTQIA2S+”—a sprawling acronym pre-
ferred by many left-leaning queer-rights activists.
He has pledged to let individuals self-identify
their gender on all government forms, and has
said he plans on “uprooting systemic discrimina-
tion within the criminal-justice system.” The
policy section of Jagmeet’s website is a laundry
list of Canadian social-justice causes—invest-
ing in indigenous languages, publishing data on
the quantity of sexual assault complaints against
Canadian law-enforcement agencies, opposing
fossil-fuel pipelines.
Young Sikh activists such as Balpreet argue
that Jagmeet’s embrace of intersectionality is not
a tactic but part of his identity. “Reaching out to
others, standing up for others—it’s not a strategy,”
Balpreet told me. “It’s who we are as Sikhs.”
But Jagmeet’s political approach is notable for
how closely it mirrors the path forged by Justin
Trudeau. Like his new challenger, Trudeau is
known for his stylish outfits, youthful charismaand embrace of progressive identity politics—all
of which helped him win Canada’s 2015 federal
election. Trudeau’s cabinet, designed to “look
like Canada,” is half female, and has numerous
members who are minorities. Trudeau is fond of
boasting that there are more Sikhs in his cabinet
than of India’s current prime minister, Narendra
Modi. Trudeau has won praise for increasing
the country’s intake of Syrian refugees and has
even issued a formal apology for Canada turning
away the Komagata Maru. “For the laws that
discriminated against you so senselessly, and for
not apologising sooner,” he told Canada’s parlia-
ment in 2016, “for all these things, we are truly
sor r y.”chris young / the canadian press / ap
Jagmeet Singh’s political approach is
notable for how closely it mirrors the path
forged by Justin Trudeau. Like his new
challenger, Trudeau is known for his stylish
outfits, youthful charisma and embrace of
progressive identity politics.