For the past two weeks, as Jagmeet Singh’s polling numbers steadily ticked upwards, expectations had risen for a new orange wave à la 2011 — an #UpRiSingh of sorts, as far as overwrought Twitter hashtags go.

Former U.S. president Barack Obama may have endorsed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but it was superstar Rihanna who had followed Singh and swapped messages with the NDP leader on Instagram.

The “Singh surge” seemed to be on.

I wasn’t so sanguine in my expectations. Still, that didn’t deter me from joining 16 per cent of the electorate yesterday who cast a ballot for the NDP, the party that, arguably, is still the voice of this country’s working class. It was disgust in the Conservatives’ “Barbaric Practices” snitch line and niqab dog-whistling that led me to switch to red in 2015. This time around, it was the Liberals’ façade of progressive politics veiling cynical politics — SNC-Lavalin, JWR, climate action — that partly spurred a switch to orange.

And even though the New Democrats, in polling terms, took a bruising, falling from 39 to 24 seats — and from 14 to almost none in Quebec — I don’t count this election as a loss.

The party isn’t walking away empty-handed. And a vote for Singh wasn’t a wasted gesture despite the game-theory reasoning of those in favour of strategic voting.

By the end of last night’s election, an embattled NDP may have had fewer seats, but it gained greater status. And it will now have a real opportunity to hold the balance of power in Ottawa and leverage its support in return for policies that invest in housing, a national dental-care plan, interest relief on student loans, and the closing of tax “avoidance” loopholes servicing Canada’s super wealthy 0.1 per cent.

And Jagmeet Singh, having already been the first person of colour to lead a major national party, will get a real opportunity to wield power, all while continuing to raise the profile of people of colour in Canada. His presence on the campaign trail has already provided a number of teachable moments for this country.

His candidacy has revealed blind spots in our newsrooms to covering issues pertaining to race and ethnicity, with outlets publishing headlines like “Some voters question whether Canada is ready for a PM with a turban.”

That lack of racial sensitivity was also evident when Justin Trudeau’s blackface photographs broke. The press pack travelling with the prime minister asked first and foremost how the images would affect his prospects for re-election, failing to adequately question when Trudeau actually understood his actions to be racist.

Singh’s response to the issue, however, corrected that oversight. Instead of politicizing Trudeau’s epic blackface gaffe, Singh chose to speak about trauma and directly to racialized Canadians who likely had suffered discrimination, and been targeted with slurs for looking different. Singh’s words resonated with sincerity and were in sharp relief to the questions Trudeau initially faced, and, more critically, to Trudeau’s fumbling explanation about being overly enthusiastic about costumes.

Meanwhile Singh’s interactions with the general public have also revealed the gulf between the daily experiences of racialized and white Canadians. It was in Quebec that Singh was filmed giving a masterclass in dealing with the typical micro-aggressions people of colour are often subjected to, typically by entitled whites imposing their unsolicited opinions on how to “adapt.”

At a Montreal market, an elderly man told Singh he should cut off his turban to fit in, to do as the Romans when in Rome. Singh’s response, honed, no doubt, from countless similar past encounters, was to defuse, and distance himself, “Oh, I think Canadians look like all sorts of people,” Singh replied walking on, “That's the beauty of Canada.”

Commentators were quick to credit Singh’s grace in a difficult situation, but there were also many white Canadians on social media — as well as within reach of my own social circles — who were incredulous to the possibility of such an interaction. Others online and also whom I knew, their invisible knapsacks apparently unburdened by these sort of social confrontations, actually insisted the moment was staged.

But the beauty of this country is also that we are able to discuss and debate these teachable moments, and where possible, to move forward from our own ugly past. That real progress is possible. It has only been 70 years since South Asian, Chinese, and Japanese Canadians gained the right to vote — that is within the lifetimes of some Canadians who, once disenfranchised, are still exercising their hard-fought right today.

But these pivotal moments require a catalyst, someone such as Jagmeet Singh, and the others to come in his footsteps.

Yesterday, 2.8 million Canadians cast a ballot for an NDP party led by a man who wears a turban and doesn’t look like most of us. He didn’t become the prime minister but in his head-to-head debates, Singh demonstrated it’s possible not to be born with all the advantages of his rivals but still to get the better of them.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

In the coming months in Ottawa, as we continue to report on politics, Singh’s manoeuvres in Parliament will likely feature in those stories. But I anticipate the real progress will be less in areas of policy than social acceptance, on how differences that once seemed glaring — a bright pink turban, for instance — will slowly begin to appear more like a natural accessory to bespoke suits.

On the national stage, Jagmeet Singh is radically altering the international and domestic perception of what a Canadian can and should look like. And there may be more long-term payoff in that than even closing tax loopholes for the super wealthy.

Jagdeesh Mann is a media professional and journalist based in Vancouver. Follow him on Twitter @JagdeeshMann.

Read more about: