While other party leaders court blue-collar workers, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is drawing attention for campaigning with anti-Israel pornstars and taking group photos with people in fetish dog masks.
Singh is getting flak online for sitting down with an anti-Israel OnlyFans porn star and for taking pictures with individuals dressed in fetish gear.
Videos have surfaced of the porn actress Jessica Wetz wearing a Palestinian Keffiyeh, which some Israel advocates have labelled as “the modern-day Nazi Swastika,” speaking with Singh promoting his anti-Israel stance.
The video starts out with Wetz saying Canadians are proud that the U.S. military doesn’t “decide what goes on inside our borders,” implying that Israel rules over Gaza.
“Absolutely,” he said in response. “We should not be selling or buying from a country, especially a Netanyahu government that violates human rights. We should be sanctioning those who are involved in these war crimes.
The video was void of any mention of Hamas kidnapping hundreds and killing thousands, including babies, on Oct. 7, which sparked Israel’s war against Hamas in 2023.
Wetz continued asking why Canada buys and sells arms to Israel, who she claims “doesn’t respect international borders,” again without mention of the Hamas-led invasion of Israel’s border.
Singh used it as an opportunity to showcase his support for an arms embargo against Israel, to fight against “anti-Palestinian racism,” and to put a stop to Israeli settlements in Palestinian land.
He also pledged the NDP would recognize “Palestine” without a definition of borders and to continue to fund UNRWA, a UN group in the area caught numerous times with Hamas terrorism participants.
Other videos show Wetz, often wearing the Keffiyeh, having access to Singh’s campaign bus. A look at Wetz’s social media first warns users of explicit content on the page and is filled with her promoting her pornography.
Another now deleted post showed NDP supporters wearing fetish-style dog masks cozying up with the NDP leader for a photo. The incidents had social media users confused about the direction in which Singh was taking his campaign.
When asked about Singh’s use of social media platforms such as TikTok, which potentially makes him seem like an “unserious” candidate, Singh responded by saying he wants to use every tool at his disposal to connect with Canadians.
During the press conference, Singh announced during the Thursday press conference in Ottawa that Canada should prevent investors from leaving Canada and urged the start of World War era-style government bonds.
He proposed that Canadians who wanted to help Canada fight against the U.S. could purchase “victory bonds” to help pay for the government’s response to tariffs and centrally planned investments into the economy.
This contrasts with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s plan, which includes various tax cuts and savings for those who invest in Canada.
Singh’s proposed bonds are billed as compounding 3.5 per cent interest a rate 0.25 per cent above a five-year Bank low risk GIC. Singh agreed when questioned that this would mean the bonds would cost taxpayers more than if the government borrowed from the private sector.
“It’s a bit more costly to raise revenue this way than going to the capital markets, but the difference is, we’re paying revenue or paying interest back to Canadians,” he said. “So the money goes back to Canadians who then can spend it in Canada.”
The NDP press release says the bonds would be tax-free if paid out at maturity.
“A 5-year $100 Victory Bond paying 3.5 per cent will be worth $118.77 at maturity,” the release said. “A 10-year $100 Victory Bond paying 3.5 per cent interest will be worth $141.06 at maturity.”
However, government bonds’ interest rates often do not account for purchasing power lost to inflation.
If Singh’s plan had been implemented in 2015, the $141.06 promised at maturity would have amounted to the purchasing power of $114.30 in 2015, accounting for inflation. Rather than 3.5 per cent interest, the real interest rate would have been 1.35 per cent per year after accounting for actual inflation.
Those purchasing a hypothetical five-year $100 Singh “Victory Bond” in 2020 would have made 39 cents in the equivalent purchasing power of 2020 dollars—a 0.08 per cent annual increase instead of the advertised 3.5 per cent.
Singh also said he would introduce laws to prevent companies from “taking manufacturing equipment and assets” that the government “invested in Canada” out of the country.