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This byelection offers Burnaby South voters a real opportunity to help set the agenda for Canada.

Under Singh’s leadership, the NDP has struggled, with just 14-per-cent support across the country, according to an aggregation of recent polls compiled by the CBC. A Leger poll this week found that just six per cent of Canadians believe Singh would make the best prime minister of the party leaders.

What is clear from national election results and polling is that Canadians don’t believe the NDP and its policies are best for Canada. Singh is poised to continue the party’s long tradition of failure, and it’s no surprise.

He strongly opposes the Trans Mountain pipeline, a project that is clearly in the national interest and essential to economic development in Western Canada. Meanwhile, he favours the $40-billion LNG Canada project, although he faces pressure to oppose that project by NDP members with impractical climate change views.

With the NDP’s frequent opposition to major economic developments that provide jobs and prosperity, combined with its support for higher taxes and endless growth to government programs, it’s understandable that the vast majority of federal voters don’t view the NDP as a viable party to lead the country.

Singh has also never fully explained his views on terrorism, specifically as it relates to calls for the creation of an independent Sikh state, Khalistan, in India. While he has condemned terrorism, he has appeared at events with Khalistan separatists who endorse violence and he also failed in a CBC interview to denounce Talwinder Singh Parmar, thought to be the organizer of the 1985 Air India bombing.