Jagmeet Singh, 38, a candidate for leader of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), was speaking at one of his ‘JagMeet and Greet’ events in Brampton, Ontario, when he was accosted by local resident Jennifer Bush.
The woman claimed that Singh, who practices the Indian religion of Sikhism, was an advocate of Sharia Law, a traditionalist set of religious laws in Islam.
“We know you’re in bed with Sharia,” said Bush, interrupting Singh as he took the microphone to begin the event. “We know you’re in bed with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Ignoring Bush, Singh addressed the crowd, saying: “We believe in love and courage… We don’t want to be intimidated by hate, we don’t want hatred to ruin a positive event… So let’s show people how to treat someone with love: We welcome you. We love you. We support you.”
The incident, which was captured by local news outlet Brampton Focus and posted to its Facebook page, ended when the woman stormed off after Singh’s supporters began chanting “Jagmeet” and “love and courage.”
In a statement following the event, Singh said he chose not to answer Bush’s questions because he “didn’t accept the premise.”
“Many people have commented that I could have just said I’m not Muslim. In fact, many have clarified that I’m actually Sikh,” he said. “While I’m proud of who I am, I purposely didn’t go down that road because it suggests their hate would be ok if I was Muslim.”