Federal New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh has issued a call-to-arms against inequality as he sought to put his stamp on the party on Saturday by taking aim at the Trudeau government and foreign web giants while offering a full-fledged defence of taxes and public services.
He delivered the battle cry at the NDP's national convention and, as Singh's first major address to the party since he became leader in October, aimed to motivate delegates as they looked to turn the page on the last election and prepare for the next.
The NDP has appeared stuck in neutral for the past two-plus years with public opinion polls and several recent byelection results showing the third-place party struggling to find momentum even after Singh took the helm.
Convention delegates had been anxiously waiting to hear from their leader in the hopes his address, which clocked in at close to 40 minutes, would provide the NDP with an injection of energy while setting the party on a new, winning course.
Singh says taxes are investments to build a fairer society, but says the tax system benefits the country's rich.
The brunt of his attack was directed at foreign web giants such as Netflix and Amazon, many of which don't pay income tax in Canada despite repeated calls for the federal government to change that policy as a matter of fairness for Canadian companies.