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Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will not have to worry about Green Party opposition in the upcoming Burnaby-South byelection.

Singh, who does not have a seat in parliament, announced last week his intention to seek NDP MP Kennedy Stewart’s soon-to-be-vacant seat.

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Green leader Elizabeth May said her party won’t stand in his way and Singh has accepted her offer of the “leader’s courtesy”, which means the Greens will not run a candidate in the byelection.

“The leader’s courtesy is a longstanding Canadian parliamentary tradition that facilitates a newly elected party leader’s entry to the legislature by allowing him or her to contest a byelection unopposed,” said May.

Stewart is stepping down to run for mayor of Vancouver. No date has been set for the byelection.

Singh, who lives in the Toronto area, says he plans to move to Burnaby.

May said parliamentary democracy is stronger when traditions are respected and when civil debate supplants partisan bickering.

“Every party leader deserves a voice in the House. My record as a parliamentarian clearly demonstrates that the Green Party of Canada will always act in the interests of a stronger democracy by striving to make our parliament work more effectively for all Canadians,” she said.