Singh wants to see paid sick leave, vaccine passport from minority Liberal government

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he wants to see the government take "concrete, immediate" steps on a range of issues from pandemic supports to climate change to reconciliation in orderto secure NDP support in the next Parliament.

At a news conference in Ottawa today, Singh outlined a list of NDP priorities that includespaid sick leave and a federal vaccine passport.

"We believe strongly in a federal vaccine passport,a document that can be used for interprovincial travel, to travel domestically, and somethingthat would allow people to have proof that can be used everywhere in Canada," Singh said.

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Jagmeet Singh spoke with reporters on Parliament Hill on Thursday. Parliament is expected to return next month.

"That was something that was floated in the past.Mr. Trudeau talked about itbut has not yet done it. So we're saying, 'Let's see some action on these things.'"

The NDP won 25 seats in the 2021 federal election, boosting its caucus by a single seat.But because the Liberals did not win a majority of seats, the NDPwill have significant influence in the minority Parliament.

NDPMPs gathered for a caucus meeting Wednesday and discussed the party's priorities for the next Parliament.

Along withmeasuresrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singh said he wants to see the Liberal government take moreaction on climate change and Indigenous reconciliation.

He cited a court case between theFirst Nations Child and Family Caring Society, the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government over underfunding and inequity in the child welfare system.

A federal judge recently dismissed an application for a judicial review from the federal government over a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orderwhich leftOttawa on the hook for billions of dollars in compensation related to the child welfare system.

Singh called on the government to terminatethe case.

"One immediate, concrete step, something that could happen right now, is Mr. Trudeau could finally stop the court case against Indigenous children," he said. "There's been ruling after ruling from the Canadian human rights tribunal, and now another decision in the courts that said ... there's no ground to appeal it, so stop the legal battles.

"That would be another sign that this Liberal government is interested in working with us, and it would signal to us interestin working together."

He said the Liberals have not yet reached out to the NDPto discussshared priorities.

"They haven't signaled that they want to negotiate or talk so far," he said. "That's fine, I'm not concerned because they know where we stand. We've campaigned on where we stand for the past 36-plus days ... I look forward to them signalling their interest by doing any of these things."

Singh cited the worsening pandemicsituation in Alberta and Saskatchewanas he called on the Liberals tomaintain robust economic supports, such as theCanada Emergency Wage Subsidy and theCanada Emergency Rent Subsidy.

"We want to see the supports continue. As I outlined, we're in the worst of it right now. For Alberta and Saskatchewan, this is the worst it's ever been," he said. "It would be irresponsible and wrong to cut the help to people."

Alberta has requested and received assistance fromthe federal government and themilitary to help staff its hospitals.

While Singhcriticized thegovernments in those provincesover their handling of the pandemic, he said the federal government needs to step up on health transfers.

The provinces and territorieshave come together to demand an increase in the share of health care spending covered by the federal government.

Singh reflects on thecampaign

Although the NDP increased its seat total in the federal election, it was an underwhelmingresult for a party that was looking for a breakthrough.

Singh said that whilehe was proud of the campaign, he's disappointed the party didn't send more newfacesto Parliament.

WATCH|Following a caucus meeting, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he's proud of the campaign he ran

Following a caucus meeting, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he's proud of the campaign he ran

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Singh says the feedback the party received was very positive and he looks forward to building a stronger party for the next election.

"One of the things that we've identified we need to do more work is on the ground," he said."There's a lot of races where we were very, very close ... so that's part of the analysis that we'll be doing to get more details around what we can do to improve that."

The party announced it will conduct a review of the campaignled by political adviser Bob Dewar.

Singh andNDPbrasshavebeen accused internally ofpromoting his profile at the expense of local candidates in the election.