NDP Deputy leader gets the Royals’ issue right while Singh wavers

The federal NDP Canadian-heritage critic and deputy leader, Alexandre Boulerice, said that he does not support paying for Prince Harry and Meghan’s security costs while living in Canada. 

Boulerice intends to make it clear to the Liberal government that the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex should be covering their costs, and the majority of Canadians agree. According to an Angus Reid poll, 73% of Canadians do not support paying for any of the Royals’ costs, and only 22% said they helped to pay for some or all of their expenses.

Playing it smart with Canadians

This is a brilliant move for Boulerice, but despite that the NDP positions itself as the party for the working-class, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh won’t rule out paying for the Royals, showing a cultural rift in the party.

Now I’m no NDP supporter myself, but from a purely tactical viewpoint, Mr. Singh is making a grave error by not decisively rejecting the notion of paying for two non-Canadian wealthy former Royals. On the other hand, Boulerice seems to know that the parties union base culturally is opposed to writing cheques for the wealthy elites to sustain their lifestyles. 

Mr. Singh, on the other hand, seems like he may be doubling down on the failed NDP campaign trying to garner woke-metropolitan voters who were already heavily monopolized by the Liberals. 

Trying to appeal to that 22% of voters who may want to give money to the Royals is voluntarily backing yourself into a corner. The NDP should be striking a more populous stance like Boulerice, as the party has always used rhetoric relating to being on behalf of the common man, and the 22% who are economically comfortable enough to give money away to wealthy foreigners are unlikely to have ever voted NDP in any significant proportion.

This Royals situation won’t be a big deal for the NDP in the long run, but cracks between messaging within the party on issues like this foreshadow leadership problems in the long term. Currently, the NDP is in an internal struggle on whether to support the new USMCA trade deal, which may have far more severe repercussions if handled poorly within the caucus.

If the NDP wants to recover more seats next election, it has to realize its base of support doesn’t go for this celebrity watching nonsense, nor care for Mr. Singh’s posturing as a hipster politician, needing to be seen as cool and modern.