THUNDER BAY – New Democratic Party candidate Anna Betty Achneepineskum couldn’t help noticing a shift in momentum after Jagmeet Singh rolled into town here last week.

Not only was it standing-room only in the Lakehead University coffee shop for Singh’s appearance, there were another 150 people waiting outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of him crammed in beside Achneepineskum, candidate for Thunder Bay-Superior North, and Yuk-Sem Won, who is running in Thunder Bay-Rainy River.

Singh’s underdog campaign is on an upswing – at least, according to the social media postings on my feed and from the chatter I hear about his humanist appeal.

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Achneepineskum notices the effects of that boost when she knocks on doors in Thunder Bay and throughout her vast riding, which encompasses 97,965 square kilometres.

“It was smart, a good choice for him to come here and go to Kenora, Grassy Narrows, Sioux Lookout. We are the only party with a northern platform,” Achneepineskum said. “He is very sincere. His reception was amazing … I received messages afterwards, people saying they were sitting on the fence before but not now.”

Achneepineskum, a former deputy grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, knows she’s in an uphill battle against Liberal incumbent Patty Hajdu, who is minister of employment, workforce and labour. But she’s hoping general disaffection with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, combined with some northern-focused NDP policies, will make the difference.

The NDP is the only party with a platform targeted specifically to northern Ontario voters, which includes many First Nations and Métis. This is a smart move as the north has been neglected by the southern majority for so long. Only now are many waking up to the fact that the north is a flashpoint: This expansive land is shouldering the brunt of climate change and needs to be protected. However, it is also home to the Ring of Fire, a massive mineral and resource deposit Premier Doug Ford has threatened to develop no matter what the costs.

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So what is the NDP offering in its targeted northern push?

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From what I can see, pretty well the same thing that is in its larger, national platform.

The party’s so-called New Deal for Northern Ontario essentially distils the main policies, teasing out northern specific items and packaging them in a 27-page version.

For instance, it highlights the NDP’s big national policies such as extended dental care coverage, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, adding 500,000 units of affordable housing, and — my personal favourite vote grabber – promising to reduce your cellphone bill.

The Northern platform also begins with a message that sounds like political speak we hear from all the parties:

“We’ll work towards true reconciliation by finally bringing in a new relationship with Indigenous peoples based on respect, appropriate funding for services, and righting historic wrongs.”

First Nations, Métis and northern voters have heard much of this before and the words are fatiguing if they aren’t backed up with action. The New Democrats have never formed a federal government. If they did, would they be different from the Liberals?

Indigenous peoples are tired of a series of half-truths and missteps from the Trudeau’s government: the sacking of Jody Wilson-Raybould, the first Indigenous attorney general, who called Trudeau’s bluff on SNC-Lavalin; half-baked policies concerning Indigenous language legislation; arresting land defenders in Wet’se’wetun. The misdeeds are many and have risked any ongoing good will.

What truly broke everyone was hearing last Friday that Ottawa would fight the $2-billion Canadian Human Rights Tribunal compensation ruling ordered after the government was found to have “wilfully and recklessly” discriminated against First Nations children living on reserve.

Of course, like Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer would seek a judicial review.

Singh has said – on Twitter, in his platform and in public appearances – that he would not oppose the tribunal’s compensation ruling. The NDP promises to fully implement Jordan’s Principle, to ensure all First Nations kids receive the same health care, education and social services as non-Indigenous children.

Beyond that, the NDP has also promised to make Shannen’s Dream a reality – to provide every First Nations child with a proper school, committing “equitable access to education by increasing funding to Indigenous education and bridging the gap to post-secondary.”

The Liberals and Conservatives probably don’t want to remember Shannen Koostachin, a youth from Attawapiskat in northern Ontario who campaigned for a school in her community that would have real walls, a gymnasium and a library. Her school consisted of a collection of mouldy, damp portables built near a toxic dump site. Shannen died in 2010, four years before a new school finally was built.

Since the dawn of the Indian Act in 1876, education has been underfunded for First Nations children. Many communities are simply without secondary schools. This means children who are 13, 14 or 15 have to leave their families and travel great distances to live with boarding parents, just so they can go to high school.

The NDP, like the Liberals, have promised to end all boil-water advisories by 2021, and, they have promised to build a $19-million health care facility at Grassy Narrows to take care of a community suffering from mercury poisoning from toxic water.

The lack of clean water and working sewage systems in many First Nations communities is one of the motivating factors that got Achneepineskum into federal politics. It was also a motivator for Chief Rudy Turtle from Grassy Narrows First Nation, who is running for the NDP in the Kenora riding in the hopes of improving the lives of people who continue to suffer from three generations of poisoning.

Achneepineskum knows a lot is promised in the national NDP platform. From aligning Canada’s laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People to implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, along with all of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls recommendations, Achneepineskum knows it is a tall order.

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She also believes that overpromising and underdelivering has soured many Indigenous voters on voting Liberal.

“I know realistically it is very hard to keep all the promises we make. But this is a place where we can begin, all these platform items that we have.”

Last week, after Singh finished addressing the crowd at Lakehead, he said, “All right, my friends. Let’s do it. Let’s make this happen.”

Maybe we’ll see, Jagmeet, maybe we’ll see.