ADAMS: When Showing Up Stopped Mattering: How the NDP Fumbled Away My Vote

Lawn signs for 2025 federal election candidates: Pranay Gunti, Ghuzna Imam, Thomas Zekveld, Bridget Girard, and Jamil Jivani, outside an Esso gas station. Photo credit: Will Adams

Back in October 2024, I wrote a Substack post arguing that Jagmeet Singh could lead the NDP to victory when he ended the Supply and Confidence Agreement with the Liberals. I saw it as a bold move that could redefine Canadian politics.
But after everything that’s unfolded since then, I officially retract that opinion.

I used to believe in Jagmeet Singh. In 2021, he embodied everything the Canadian political system desperately needed: boldness, passion, clarity. He spoke not like a consultant, but like someone with real vision and guts—advocating for taxing billionaires and building a country for people who don’t own yachts. And now? He’s a walking YouTube short with a beard. Same "angry at the elites" energy, none of the substance. Just recycled talking points, half-hearted slogans, and empty gestures. It’s like watching your favourite TV show come back for one more season—with a different writing team and half the budget.

How the NDP Sold Out Pharmacare

One of the NDP’s big rallying cries when they signed the Supply and Confidence Agreement was the Universal Pharmacare pilot program. The idea was stupidly simple: give people free birth control and diabetes medication, build actual groundwork, and finally move toward full Pharmacare under our universal healthcare system. That’s it. That’s what they promised. And, of course, the Liberals dragged their feet every step of the way. Delay after delay, excuse after excuse. It should’ve been obvious for Singh to pull the plug right then and there—say, "Nope, deal’s off. Come back when you’re serious." But he didn’t. He stayed. He kept the NDP in the agreement, kept insisting, “We’re making progress!”

And sure, eventually the pilot passed. But here’s the part nobody seems to talk about: healthcare is a provincial responsibility. Singh—or whoever actually drafted these deals—forgot to actually tie provincial funding to implementing the program properly. So Ottawa said, "Pharmacare pilot's ready!" and then shrugged, leaving it to the provinces to either do it or not do it. Awesome job, guys.

Even so, even with all that, I was still a little hopeful when David Eby in BC—good ol' NDP country—announced they’d implement it. And not just birth control and diabetes meds, but also Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)??? I thought, “Finally! Someone’s doing the obvious thing! Someone’s showing some actual leadership!” I was excited. Legitimately excited. It actually felt like something meaningful was happening for once. But then I read the fine print. And my disapointment was immeasurable. It wasn’t real HRT coverage. It was menopause HRT coverage. That’s it. If you are a trans person? Too bad. You're not included. You get nothing.

I couldn’t believe it. In BC. With an NDP majority government. With no excuse.
You have the power. You have the money. You have the votes. You have the chance. And you still screw it up? This wasn’t just laziness—this was blatant discrimination. And it absolutely shattered any idea I had that the NDP was “uncompromising” and serious about building a better system for everyone. And look, maybe you could’ve spun an excuse if this was a minority government situation. Maybe. But it's not.

David Eby has a massive majority. If Singh actually wanted Eby to provide full HRT coverage, it would’ve been done. No negotiations. No begging. No “well, the Liberals won’t let us.” This is on them. No defense. No hiding behind bureaucracy. They chose to leave it out of the program. And the worst part? It only gets worse from here.

That time the NDP decided that facts were optional

Let’s talk about that Carney tweet.

NDP attempts to tie Mark Carney to the privatization of Petro Canada, in 1991. Image credit: @NDP on X

The NDP posted this scorched-earth tweet claiming Mark Carney privatized Petro-Canada. Sounds dramatic. Just one problem: he didn’t. Petro-Canada was privatized in 1991. Carney didn’t even work there until 2003. That’s over a decade later. So unless this man somehow time-traveled in from the future to sell off public assets, the claim is a straight-up lie. Not a stretch. Not a misread. Just wrong.

Jagmeet Singh claims then-Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney will cut healthcare funding. Video credit: Canadian Resisters

But the dunking didn’t stop there. Singh followed up at a press conference before Carney was sworn in as prime minister by claiming Carney “straight up said” he’d cut services like healthcare. Straight up? Where? That’s a very bold choice of words. So, like any good citizen with internet access, I went digging. And guess what? No smoking gun. No evil villain monologue. Just a handful of cautious, hedged statements about fiscal sustainability and keeping it the way it is—aka economist for “I’m not committing to anything.” Either Singh’s team confused Carney with Darth Vader, or they’re banking on the average voter not knowing how to use Google. Which, honestly, might be the most cynical campaign move of all.

What the NDP Looks Like on My Doorstep

Lawn signs for 2025 federal candidates: Jamil Jivani, Bridget Girard, and Clint Cole, lined up near fast food shops and businesses. Image credit: Will Adams

Now look—I’ve voted for longshots, underdogs, even that one guy who campaigned by duct-taping leaflets to his car. I can live with scrappy, what I can’t live with is invisible. I did my annual Riding Tour™ around Bowmanville–Oshawa North—basically birdwatching, but for lawn signs. United Party signs? Check. Christian Heritage Party signs? Weirdly, also check. Pranay Gunti signs? Everywhere. That man might not win, but he’s sure as hell putting in the effort. But Elenor Marano? The NDP’s great local hope? Nothing. Not even a sign on a cul-de-sac. I saw more advertisements for dog grooming services than I did for Elenor. Hell, at one point, I got excited by an orange blur—turned out to be a Home Depot sign in a bush.

Honestly, if I dumped my great-grandfather’s ashes onto an Elections Canada form and gave it a shove down the street, I guarantee it would run a more energized, alive, and coherent campaign than whatever the NDP is sleepwalking through in my riding. At this point, I’m not even mad—I’m just impressed by the commitment to being this uninspiring. If your party’s entire presence in one of the fastest-growing, working-class ridings in the country amounts to a couple limp tweets and a bargain-bin attack ad, you’re not running a campaign—you’re just taking up space on an Excel sheet.

And it sucks to say that, because Singh is a big part of the reason I got into politics. He was the first leader I saw who made me think, “Maybe the system doesn’t have to suck.” He made me believe the NDP could be more than the perennial third-place finisher. It could be a force for renters, workers, newcomers, queer kids, and everyone else the system conveniently forgets. But now? The engine’s still running, but no one’s driving. Maybe Jagmeet’s tired. Maybe he’s surrounded by consultants who think TikTok is strategy. Maybe they think they can win by osmosis and vibes. They can’t. Campaigning is knocking on doors. Holding events. Actually showing up, asking for trust, and earning it. Until the NDP remembers that, I’m out. Not because I stopped believing in social democracy, but because I don’t vote for people who ghost my town and think loyalty is something they’re owed, not something they have to work for.

So Who Did I Vote For?

Will Adams and Bridget Girard smile in a vibrant Liberal campaign office filled with Canadian flags, signs, and enthusiastic election energy. Image credit: Will Adams

When the early polls came, I went and voted for someone who actually showed up. Not just in the headlines or on Tiktok—but here, on my street. In my riding. I voted for someone who didn’t treat Bowmanville–Oshawa North like a write-off, a placeholder, or a name on a clipboard. I voted for someone who put up signs, knocked on doors, and—get this—talked to people like they matter. Now, I’m not saying she’s perfect. Nobody is. But she ran legitimate a campaign with actual effort behind it.

With policies that weren’t just vibes. With a platform that didn’t treat working-class people like a demographic to be tricked, but a community to be heard. So yeah, I voted for Bridget Girard. And if you’re sick of ghost candidates, half-assed campaigns, and parties that think retweets are political capital? Maybe you should too.

Change doesn't happen in hashtags. It happens when we vote like it matters. Don’t vote for people just because they wear your team’s jersey. Vote for people who show up when it counts. Who fight for your street, not just their seat. The NDP used to be that party for me. But this cycle? They ghosted my riding, fumbled the message, and bet the farm on internet clout. That’s not politics. That’s content creation. And the NDP needs to remember this, or get out of the way.