Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh made a stop in View Royal to announce the framework for a federal plan to support Canadian workers amid a trade war with the U.S.

Joined by Courtenay鈥揂lberni MP Gord Johns, Victoria MP Laurel Collins, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP Alistair MacGregor and Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke candidate Maja Tait, Singh unveiled the party's Workers for Canada plan at the Victoria Scottish Community Centre on Tuesday (March 11).

"It is unwarranted, unjustified, and frankly illegal," said Singh, speaking on the ever-changing tariffs coming from the White House "We're seeing an incredible resilience from Canadians. Canadians are defiant. As Premier Eby said, they're pissed off That's right, they're angry."

In an effort to build a more resilient economy and to support workers, the NDP hopes to remove barriers to access employment insurance and extend the duration of benefits to 50 weeks, along with protecting public service jobs and putting forward emergency income supports similar to those enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic including a boost to the GST credit, the Canada Child Benefit and GIS. 

"Our plan to fight back and to defend Canadians starts with protecting workers," said Singh. "We're [a party] founded by unions, founded by workers, and so the first thing we need to do is make sure those workers that are standing up and fighting back, know that we've got their back."

Additionally, the plan sets out the framework to upgrade, replace, and build more infrastructure and homes for Canadians, along with an east-west clean energy grid built by Canadian-sourced materials.

"We know we need to build roads, bridges, and public infrastructure, public transit. Anytime we build a project, let's use 100% Canadian content and Canadian workers so we can create that more resilient economy," he said.