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Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and South Okanagan - West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings were active in Penticton on Friday.
Singh was visiting the city for the time since he was elected federal party leader in the fall.
He and Cannings visited Okanagan College, the En'owkin Centre, and finished their day visiting residents at the Nest and Nectar — which came after Singh spoke to local media at the Penticton Lakeside Resort to discuss current issues.
In his travels through Penticton, Singh said issues regarding housing, for all types, were raised most commonly by residents.
"Everyone's stressed about the fact there is no housing, and it's a major barrier... Not just limited to Penticton, it was top of mind to everyone I've spoken to in B.C.," Singh said.
"The other issue that keeps coming up is kind of like this divide. The divide is: the government says the economy is doing really well... and people aren't really feeling that in their lives."
Singh also weighed in the current trade battle between the provincial governments in B.C. and Alberta, and when asked he said his role is to hold the federal government accountable.
"The context is, Premier (Rachel) Notley is doing exactly what she promised to do. She said she would defend the people of the Alberta, the economy. She also put forward one of the best climate change plans in the country," Singh began.
"Premier (John) Horgan is doing exactly what he promised to do, to defend the coastline, to defend the environment. They're both following through with their promises.
"It's Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau who broke his commitment to having a modernized environmental assessment process... We're in this position now because of the federal government."
Two major talking points for Singh were goals of implementing Pharmacare and proportional representation, if he were to be elected Prime Minister.
He said, however, the two biggest issues in Canada currently are inequality and the environment.
"Everything we do is going to talk about 'how do we lift people out of the struggles they're facing? How do we tackle that inequality? And how do we protect and defend the environment?'"
