OTTAWA – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has traded in his red BMW coupe for a used 1994 Toyota Camry so he can send a message to working class voters that he is one of them.

“This car may be worth less than my least favourite portable bikes, but now I know how hard it is for working class Canadians,” said Singh to members of the media seated in the car before departing to Parliament, the squeal of the engine belt deafening ears.

Insurance for the rusting vehicle costs ten times its value and has failed its emissions test, but NDP insiders believe driving an unroadworthy car is the right statement for Singh instead of a one that declares “my rich dad bought me this car and I never use my indicator.”

“We want people to assume Jagmeet has three minimum-wage jobs and no way to pay for a new muffler,” said NDP Party President Mathieu Vick. “He will also ditch his Rolex watch and exchange his designer suits for designer high vis sweaters.”

The strategy to attract empathetic wage-earning votes showed early success after news broke that Singh’s car had already broken down making him late for work.

“My car has over 400,000 km on the odometer, but you know what would get even more mileage? Universal pharmacare coverage,” said Singh to a group of voters staring at a heavy oil leak that was pouring out of the car onto the street. “I don’t have a plan for taking this to the shop, but I do have a plan for a national housing strategy.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made his pitch to working class voters by assuming they don’t exist, while Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer wooed blue-collar voters by recklessly firing a gun off into the air.