Jagmeet Singh Shared A Photo From When He Was 20 Years Old & 'Struggling To Make Ends Meet'
He explained how he was working three jobs to help raise his brother and support his parents.
Jagmeet Singh standing side by side with his brother Gurratan Singh. Right: Jagmeet Singh.
Jagmeet Singh shared a look back at when he was 20 years old and working three jobs to help support his family when his brother moved in with him.
He posted a photo on Instagram of him with his arm around his brother Gurratan Singh and making a peace sign with one hand.
"You probably would never know, but when this photo was taken I had a lot on my mind," he said.
"I was working three jobs and struggling to make ends meet," Singh explained.
He shared that at the time, his father had an addiction, so his younger brother needed "stability and safety."
"I told my mom that I felt Gurratan would be better off if he moved in with me," he said. "It was a tough decision but my brother came to live with me before the start of the next school year."
When the photo was taken, Singh was 20 years old and his brother was only 15.
He was working to pay the bills and buy food while taking care of his brother and also going to university.
"No matter how hard I worked, I was barely keeping my head above water," Singh said.
The NDP leader also shared that one of the reasons why he got into politics was because he didn't want anyone to struggle the way he did.
Singh's brother Gurratan commented on the Instagram posted and said, "waaaayy back throw back."
In the past, he has opened up about how growing up was a "scary" time in his life and that he not only helped raised his brother but also supported his parents financially.
"My dad ended up losing work," he revealed. "My mom gave me a call saying, 'We don't have any money and you're going to have to figure things out.'"
After that happened, he got three jobs and worked as much as he could to afford groceries, pay bills and send money to his mom.
Also, for his brother Gurratan's birthday in 2022, Singh shared that he was "so proud" of the man he had become as he looked back on their lives.
"I remember in particular when we lived together. I was a 20-year-old kid raising a 15-year-old kid and I remember registering him for high school, helping him with his homework, sometimes I'd end up doing it," he said.
Singh has also shared that he jokes with his wife about how being a dad now is a little bit different because he already had to be like a dad to his brother, his sister and his parents.