OTTAWA—The NDP’s director of communications is one of three party staffers leaving their jobs as leader Jagmeet Singh campaigns for his first federal seat in a British Columbia byelection.

Kerry Pither, a communications specialist who joined Singh’s front office last spring, will resign March 1 to spend more time with her family, said Singh’s chief of staff, Jennifer Howard. Her departure comes after the party’s head of information technology, Jacob Homel, and press secretary Orian Labrèche left their jobs earlier this month, Howard said.

Howard characterized the situation as “pretty natural turnover” as the NDP continues restructuring ahead of the general election in October.

Pither did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

In an email Saturday, Pither said she agreed with the party that she would only stay in the job for a few months. Because she travels often to the United States where her husband lives, she can’t “put in the hours this position deserves in an election year.”

“I'm excited about seeing Jagmeet take his seat in the House before I leave. It has been a tremendous honour to work for him and I'm happy I will be able to continue to do that remotely and on a project to project basis moving forward,” she said.

Howard told the Star by phone on Friday that “these jobs are all-encompassing, and people want to do other things with their lives.”

“The other thing that’s true is we’re beginning to kind of restructure the team to really get election ready,” she said, describing how key members of the NDP campaign in last year’s Ontario election have agreed to help out however they can.

“I feel pretty good about the state of the team that’s coming together.”

MPs made similar statements last fall, when Singh’s first chief of staff, Willy Blomme, resigned from her post for personal reasons. Charlie Angus, a longtime MP from northern Ontario, said at the time that her departure was “the beginning of a big reset” ahead of the federal election. Howard, a former Manitoba MLA, was hired to replace her in November.

The party has faced a series of challenges since Singh, a rookie to federal politics, won the NDP leadership in the fall of 2017. Yearly donations to the party have tanked from $18.6 million in 2015 to about $5 million last year, according to fundraising returns filed with Elections Canada.

In the face of the lagging contributions, the party mortgaged its Ottawa headquarters — the Jack Layton building — for $12 million, while Singh decided last year to forego a party salary while he toured the country waiting for his chance to win a seat in the House of Commons.

That chance will come Feb. 25, when voters in the B.C. riding of Burnaby South will vote in one of three federal byelections held that day. Howard said she is confident Singh will win, and that the party has made no other plans in the event that he loses.

“Our plan is for him to get elected and then get into the House of Commons and show Canadians how he’s going to stand up for them,” she said. “That’s the plan. That’s the only plan.”

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

Meanwhile, the party does not have plans to hire someone to replace Pither as director of communications. The duties of the job will be shared by current staff Mélanie Richer and Jonathan Gauvin, she said.

Feb. 16, 2019 — Editor’s note: This story has been updated from a previously published version to insert comment from Kerry Pither.

Read more about: