After 10 months watching Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer trade barbs in the House of Commons from the outside, Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is finally running for a seat of his own. And the choice of riding is a little, well, bizarre. Singh announced at an event Wednesday that he would be running in a by-election for the soon-to-be-vacant MP seat in the Burnaby South riding. Yes, that’s in British Columbia.

Today I’m announcing my intention to run in the upcoming by-election in Burnaby South. From housing to healthcare, the people of Burnaby & all of Canada need solutions today – and the NDP will do everything we can to make a real difference, for more people. Here’s why: #cdnpoli — Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) August 8, 2018

For those unfamiliar with Singh’s history, the now-federal leader served for six years as an MPP in the Ontario Bramalea-Gore-Malton riding — an area that covers a portion of the Greater Toronto Area. When Singh ran for party leader in October 2017, he did not have a federal seat — not technically a requirement for running — and when he was elected, he said he wasn’t in a rush to run for one and would instead focus on leading the NDP to a 2019 victory. He also mused that he would probably run for MP before the federal election and that it would be in a riding with some significance to him, floating ridings in Windsor, Toronto and Brampton as options.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announces he’ll run in Burnaby South by-election: “It starts here. It starts today.” #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/eJy0SThEEi — CPAC (@CPAC_TV) August 8, 2018

So why Burnaby South? With incumbent NDP MP, Kennedy Stewart, stepping down in September to run for Mayor of Vancouver, this BC riding is the first to become available since Singh was elected that the NDP has a shot at winning. Other ridings that have held byelections in the intervening months have gone pretty safely to the Liberals or Conservatives.

But as the CBC points out, the Burnaby South riding won’t be an easy win either. In the 2015 election that saw Justin Trudeau’s Liberals elected in a majority, the NDP just narrowly beat the Liberal candidate in the Burnaby area.

Singh has said that he and his wife would move to Burnaby — an area currently facing a housing crisis — if he were to win the riding. While it is not unprecedented for a party leader to run for an MP seat in a province they have never lived in — Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien both did it — Singh is going to have to be particularly attentive to the community there to speak to their unique needs. So far, he is basing his platform on high housing costs and the fight for pharmacare.

Almost everyone I speak with here in Burnaby & across Canada talks to me about the out of control cost of housing. Housing is a human right – yet despite this crisis, 90% of the funding the Liberals have pledged kicks in 2 years from now. Once again, we’re being told to wait. — Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) August 8, 2018

Canada remains the only country in the world with a public healthcare system that doesn’t have universal pharmacare. Even though studies continue to show that pharmacare would help save lives & over $4.2B every year, the Liberals are once again telling all of us to wait. — Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) August 8, 2018

While Singh is trying his best to seem totally in tune with the issues of Burnaby South, some of its residents aren’t really buying it. Critics are confused as to how someone who has lived in Ontario and Newfoundland can properly represent people on the other side of the country.

Jagmeet Singh running in Burnaby South? You live in Ontario. If you are moving here long term, I can see this, but if not, don’t agree with this. How do you vote for someone that hasn’t lived in that area? I would think this would turn voters off. F’n politics. — VEERHOOD™ (@veerhood) August 6, 2018

Where is he from? That is not right & one of my biggest pet peeves with our current system. — Nat Renney Sarahs (@NatalieSarahs) August 6, 2018

So if he can run for a position in Burnaby but not be a current resident, does that mean I can run for mayor of of I don’t know…. Ottawa?

How on earth does this even make sense? — Peach City (@beachcruise69) August 9, 2018

The date of the byelection has yet to be set and Singh has assured that if he loses the race he will still remain leader of the New Democrats.