Jagmeet Singh Reveals That The Liberal-NDP Deal Started Because Of His Baby

He's unofficially calling it the "Anhad Accord."

​Jagmeet Singh with his wife and baby. Right: Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons.

Jagmeet Singh with his wife and baby. Right: Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons.

Senior Writer

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has revealed that the deal he made with Justin Trudeau all started because of the birth of his daughter!

It was announced by the prime minister on March 22 that the Liberals and the NDP had reached a "supply and confidence agreement" that will keep the current minority Liberal government in power until 2025.

Trudeau noted that the parties agreed to tackle things like rising housing costs, health care, child care, paid sick leave, truth and reconciliation, and more. Singh said dental care and pharmacare will also be expanded.

During an interview on the Canadian comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes on March 29, the NDP leader was asked to explain how the deal came to be.

"So, it started off right after the 2021 election. There was some conversation, it kind of fizzled out and then what started it again actually is really cute, [it] was the birth of my daughter," he said.

Singh's baby was born on January 3, 2022, and he revealed that Trudeau called him after she came into the world, which opened the door to having more conversations.

"In a lot of ways, this accord happened because of my daughter Anhad, so informally I think of this as the Anhad Accord," Singh said. "It's kind of cute."

A month after their baby was born, Singh's wife, Gurkiran Kaur, revealed what they had named her and explained the meaning of it.

Anhad, which is pronounced un-hud, means "unstruck melody of the universe" and "limitless."

Singh told Narcity he wants his daughter to grow up with a name that reminds her that "she is infinite."

He also mentioned that the second part of her name, Kaur, means "one who inherits power."

"It's a title of royalty given to all Sikh women. It symbolizes her sovereignty — she is free and complete just the way she is," Singh said.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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