VANCOUVER — A volunteer shines a beam of blue light toward a pitch-black Burnaby South residential street, signalling Jagmeet Singh to hustle over to the door of a home tucked behind tall trees.

The federal New Democratic Party leader jogs over, armed with his own LED flashlight, while New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian moves quickly uphill to knock on a next-door neighbour’s door to see if anybody is home.

A popular thoroughfare, this strip of road has few street lights and no sidewalks, so the group walks on the pavement, sometimes stepping into puddles of mud. It’s a typical January evening in Metro Vancouver. As the rain begins to fall, they embrace the drops.

“I love the rain,” says Singh’s wife Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu. “Is that weird?” Singh laughs and touches her hand. Their perspective on rain is a little different.

“In Punjabi culture, rain is considered romantic … Rain is love,” Singh explains. “My parents would always welcome rain and they’d be so excited. I think it’s part of the farming background.”

The couple moved from Ontario to Burnaby South in November, where they now rent an apartment. They both say door-knocking in Burnaby is much different than Ontario. For one, the houses are further apart.

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For three hours, the crew works the street. Several climb hills to knock on doors and use flashlights to signal to Singh when residents answer.

His spirits seem light. His energy is high, although he mentions it wasn’t the best day to break in new shoes.

Earlier that day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the highly-anticipated byelection in the riding for Feb. 25. The group — made up of three volunteers, Julian, Singh, Sidhu, and press secretary James Smith — have their work cut out for them as they canvas neighbourhoods to introduce the leader of the NDP.

The stakes are high. Singh is vying for a seat in the House of Commons just months before the next federal election in October. A party leader who cannot win a seat is conventionally expected to step aside, however, it hasn’t happened since the 1940s.

But his usual confidence remains unfazed when asked what he will do if he loses.

“The party is rallied behind me,” he says. “I will be the leader that leads the New Democratic Party to the 2019 election. I am confident that we will do well in Burnaby South ... You’ve got New Democrats in your corner unafraid to fight for what’s right for the people.”

And that’s his stance: The Conservatives don’t care about people’s issues and despite the Liberals’ progressive platform promises, Singh says Burnaby residents have seen “timid action.”

Since launching the campaign, his messaging has been consistent: create affordable housing, universal pharmacare and protect the environment. And that doesn’t change on the doorsteps.

“This government hasn’t made people a priority and that’s something I want to call out in the House,” he says.

Still, his absence from the House of Commons — the former Ontario MPP has never held a federal seat — has been repeatedly highlighted by his critics as the NDP leader has undergone a series of challenges over the past 15 months since he took the helm. Fundraising returns for the beleaguered party have plummeted over the last three years, so much so that Singh has forgone a salary since winning the leadership. And several prominent NDP members have decided to bow out of this year’s election, including veteran MPs from both Quebec and Ontario.

The party’s standing in national polls has stalled in third place, well behind the Liberals and Conservatives and not that far ahead of Elizabeth May and the Green party.

But Singh says he’s not worried about his personal future.

“What I’m worried about is the future of this country and the future for people and what they’re going through,” he says. “The biggest challenge is making sure we connect with as many people as possible.”

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Critics have questioned whether Singh’s superstar-like status in Ontario could — or would — translate to the west coast.

Meanwhile, Trudeau faced questions about pipelines and reconciliation with Indigenous people at a town hall in Kamloops on Wednesday.

While canvassing Wednesday night, all but one resident recognized Singh. But there were several people who made it clear they don’t plan on voting for him. Some of them just smiled and waved him away before closing the door, while others engaged in conversation, questioning NDP spending and policies.

While dragging her compost bin down a paved driveway, one woman told Singh she’s voted Liberal for almost a decade and she didn’t see that “changing anytime soon.” By the end of a brief but friendly conversation on several issues, she hadn’t changed her mind but was chuckling as she rolled the bin away.

Then there were those who flung open their doors with almost reverence as Singh approached. One elderly Punjabi woman clasped his hands tightly in her hands, and tears filled her eyes when she told him he was like a “god.”

Singh’s wife says this is often the norm at South Asian homes.

“It’s such a big responsibility,” she said, explaining that Punjabi families are elated to see a politician sharing their culture.

Burnaby has four distinct town “centres,” a long working-class history and a population density triple that of the region. Its demographics are increasingly young and non-white, according to the 2016 Census, and the average age is several years below B.C.’s average while 64 per cent of its population identifies as a visible minority.

And though the riding is often seen as an NDP stronghold, former MP Kennedy Stewart squeaked by with roughly 550 votes over his Liberal counterpart in the 2015 federal election.

Residents expressed similar issues from door-to-door: affordable housing, rising costs of drugs, access to child care, a strong economy and more jobs, along with environmental concerns.

On housing, one resident questioned whether Singh would provide nonmarket housing, as the municipality of Whistler has done. The NDP leader promises to push the federal government to curb speculation by “directly investing” in building units in co-operative and nonmarket housing, and roll out those funds immediately.

“I would like to see federal supports for co-operative housing and for nonmarket housing, so that it’s not subject to the ever-astronomically increasing costs of market housing,” he explains.

The feds created the National Housing Strategy with a promise of more than $15 billion toward affordable housing. But Singh slams the plan, saying they are making constituents wait until after the October election.

Singh will face Liberal nominee Karen Wang — a local daycare business owner, who has already criticized him for a lack of community ties — and Conservative Jay Shin — a lawyer — in the coming byelection. Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, a Christian blogger, author and former co-host of The 700 Club Canada was recently added to the list. Thompson, an outspoken critic of abortion and gender identity, will be running under Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada.

On Wednesday evening, Singh was busy asking residents to put up bright orange NDP signs on lawns. His were the only ones visible in that small portion of the riding.

“We’re going to win,” he says. “And we’ll do well.”

With files from Alex Ballingall and David Ball

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