Letters and Editorials 35202 Views Peter Tremblay

Jagmeet Singh: Bearded look promises to lead NDP to worst election defeat ever





Let's get this straight.  I highly respect Sikh communities in Canada and I have no personal problems with beards.

I share an Indo-Canadian background with Mr Singh and I have also had a beard.

And I also recognize that Canadians in general have no issue with open Sikhs with turbans in the RCMP, local police and even as local members of Parliament.

However, one this is clear.   Canadians in general detest their top leaders in beards.

Can you imagine how different former Prime Ministers Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Joe Clark, Jean Chretien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper would have looked in a beard?

Remember when Justin Trudeau sported a beard and moustache as humble Member of Parliament?

He too realized that he had to abandon his beard if he wanted Canadians to take him seriously.

What these successful leaders all have in common is that they were all clean shaven.

Mr Singh speaks with the most integrity and sincerity of any political leader.

But did you notice that most Canadians don't seem to be regarding anything Mr Singh says with any degree of interest.

I am also beginning to wonder who in the NDP voted for this guy?  I see a total lack of enthusiasm for Mr Singh even among the NDP campaign team.

Reportedly, the NDP could barely even inspire a full slate of candidates.

And it's apparent that Mr Singh's bearded look is behind the NDP's woes in the polls including Quebec whey they are slated to lose all of their seats.

I once asked a female friend what's the big deal about having a beard and moustache?

She told me she regards people who wear beards and moustache as "hiding something" or "untrustworthy".

It also appears that for many Canadians, even through Mr Singh speaks as a socially progressive Canadian, his look coveys the appearance of a religious fanatic and extremist who presents a threat to "traditional Canadian values".  One of my non-Sikh friends from India also said Mr Singh's look reminded him of Sikh terrorists in India.

I can guarantee that if Mr Singh ever decided to shave and conform to the look of a would-be Prime Minister in the minds of Canadians, his popularity and that of the NDP would soar above the Liberals and the Conservatives.

Mr Singh should forget about his apparent belief that he can utter any policy platform that is going to win over Canadians.

Similar apparent political image problems had effected former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair who like Mr Singh also had a beard that Canadians didn't warm up to.

Many Canadians apparently thought Mr Mulcair's beard made him look "mean" and "grumpy".

Even well-loved Jack Layton's moustache with no beard was apparently "controversial" to many Canadians.

Mr Singh's bearded-look is like a huge "elephant in the room" which no political pundit in the mainstream media wants to discuss in relationship to NDP troubles this election.

If Mr. Singh really wants to inspire Canadians to take him seriously, he needs to drop his bearded look and emulate the clean shaven look of modern Canadian prime ministers


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