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It is a favourite parlour game among members of parliament who do not belong to the third party to shout out: “Who?” whenever the name of the NDP leader is mentioned in the House of Commons.

Peter Julian, the NDP finance critic, rose to make a members statement before Christmas, urging Justin Trudeau to call a by-election in the B.C. riding of Burnaby South.

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He mentioned Jagmeet Singh’s name five times and hilarity ensued.

It is fair to say that all those glowing headlines that greeted Singh’s election as party leader in late 2017 – “Pioneering party leader could be the Trudeau Canada hoped for” – are now as fizzy as lukewarm champagne left open overnight.

Only one in five Canadians has a positive view of Singh; the majority are either neutral or have no view at all. In one recent poll, more than twice as many people said they would prefer Trudeau than Singh to negotiate a contract on their behalf, even though the NDP leader is a lawyer and the prime minister is most assuredly not.