NDP appoints MPP Jagmeet Singh as deputy leader

TORONTO — The Ontario NDP has appointed MPP Jagmeet Singh as its new deputy leader.

It’s the first time in more than a decade Ontario’s NDP Caucus has had a deputy leader.

READ MORE: Ontario Liberals losing votes to NDP, PCs in the lead: poll

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Singh was elected in October 2011 in the riding of Bramalea — Gore — Malton, after a failed run for a federal seat earlier that year.

Singh’s appointment makes him the first turbaned Sikh to occupy a deputy leader position in Canada.

The 36-year-old is currently the NDP critic for the Attorney General and Government and Consumer Services.

Before heading to Queens Park, Singh was a criminal defense lawyer in the Brampton and Mississauga areas. He has garnered much attention, landing on the Toronto Star’s Top 12 people to watch for 2012 and in 2013 as a “rising star” on Toronto Life’s annual “Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People” list.