OTTAWA— A stylish criminal defence lawyer from Brampton is gearing up to win an election for the New Democratic Party. Must be Jagmeet Singh, right?

Wrong.

It’s his brother, Gurratan Singh, who told the Star on Friday that he is “seriously considering” a run for the Ontario NDP in Brampton East.

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The newly redrawn riding includes much of the constituency that Jagmeet Singh represented during his six-year stint at Queen’s Park. That means Gurratan would be running to win the rough equivalent of his brother’s old seat if he could repeat the suburban breakthrough that started Jagmeet’s political career and eventual rise to federal NDP leader.

Since becoming leader of the federal NDP, Jagmeet Singh has kept younger brother Gurratan by his side. Gurratan says he encouraged Jagmeet to go into politics. (The Canadian Press)

“I could continue that legacy,” Gurratan, 33, said in an interview Friday.

“I love this riding, I love the people in the riding, and I’ve been connected to it for so long,” he said. “I know the issues that they face, and I think I could be the voice to really advocate for them.”

While he’s never held elected office, Singh is no political newbie. He has been a close advisor to his older brother through his entire political career, including his runaway victory in last year’s federal NDP leadership campaign, when the Singh machine raked in by far the most money and he won on the first ballot. Jagmeet has credited Singh with pushing him into politics in the first place and has called him “one of my strongest allies and greatest supporters.”

Gurratan Singh also ran for a Peel Regional Council seat in Brampton in 2014, when he lost in a close race to John Sprovieri.

A spokesperson with the Ontario NDP said this week that Singh was seeking the Brampton East nomination in the upcoming provincial election. But Singh said he hasn’t made a final decision yet, even though he’s been speaking to the party about the nomination and doorknocking in the community.

“People are fed up, they’re really fed up with the Liberals,” he said. “This is an amazing opportunity for the NDP right now.”

Like Jagmeet, the younger Singh is a criminal defence lawyer who graduated from Osgoode Hall and runs his own legal practice. In 2015, he worked under Toronto lawyer and social activist James Lockyer, who is known for his work defending people who have been wrongfully convicted.

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Singh also sits on the Peel Art Gallery advisory board, is the chair of the City of Brampton’s Inclusion and Equity Committee, and co-founded a pop-up restaurant called the Grand Trunk Road, which specializes in “Punjabi comfort food,” according to his LinkedIn profile.

He added that he shares many of the same values as his older brother, and is proud of his “vision” as a political leader. Asked how he is different from Jagmeet, Singh described himself as a community organizer and joked that he’s “younger but cooler” than his bespoke suit-wearing older brother.

“People may not realize we’re two separate people,” he laughed. “I think it’s important that people look at me independently.”

The riding he may run in was created in 2015 from two Brampton constituencies: Bramalea—Gore—Malton, where Singh’s brother Jagmeet held the seat for the Ontario NDP from 2011 until 2017, when he became federal leader and resigned from Queen’s Park; and Brampton—Springdale, which has been held by the Liberals since it was created in 2007.

Singh said that he will campaign for Andrea Horwath’s NDP this spring even if he isn’t a candidate himself. Ontarians go to the polls June 7.

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