NDP leadership candidate Jagmeet Singh was interrupted during a meet-and-greet Wednesday by a visibly angry woman who clapped in his face and accused him of supporting 鈥渟haria law.鈥�
Rather than fighting fire with fire, Singh, who is Sikh, responded by letting the heckler shout before telling her that the crowd at the Brampton, Ont. event would not be 鈥渋ntimidated by hate.鈥�
鈥淲e don't want hatred to ruin a positive event. So let鈥檚 show people how we treat people with love," Singh said as he encouraged the audience to applaud.
The woman, who introduced herself as a women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 advocate, accused Singh of ignoring her calls and launched into a tirade against the politician.
"When is your sharia going to end?" the woman said, referring to Islamic law. "At what point, when we're throwing gays off rooftops?"
Aides stepped in an attempt to speak to the woman, who repeatedly ordered them not to touch her and threatened to call police.
Singh eventually interjected to speak directly to the crowd over the microphone.
鈥淲hat do we believe in? Love and courage,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e believe in an inclusive Canada where no one is left behind. We believe in building a Canada that ensures that there is economic justice for everybody.
As the crowd cheered, the woman stood smiling beside Singh, smiling and clapping, and said, 鈥淚 love it! Awesome! Absolutely! Diversity!鈥�
She continued to carry on, pointing her fingers in Singh鈥檚 face and shouting, 鈥淲here is your sharia going to stop?鈥�
Singh eventually turned to directly address the heckler.
鈥淲e welcome you. We love you. We support you 鈥� we believe in your rights,鈥� he said, as the crowd chanted 鈥渓ove and courage鈥� 鈥� a slogan used by Singh鈥檚 leadership campaign.
The encounter ended after several minutes when the woman decided to walk away.
Singh admitted to the crowd that the situation was 鈥渁wkward鈥� but that, as a 鈥渂rown-skinned鈥� man who wears a turban and a beard, it was nothing new for him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a problem. We can deal with it. There鈥檚 going to be other obstacles we鈥檙e going to face, and we鈥檙e going to face them with what? With love and courage,鈥� he said.
Video of the one-way shouting match has been viewed more than 18,000 times since it was
Singh, an Ontario NDP member of provincial parliament, is one of four leadership candidates vying to lead the party at the federal level and challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in the 2019 election.
Singh faces Ontario MP Charlie Angus, Manitoba MP Niki Ashton and Quebec MP Guy Caron. The party will vote to replace Tom Mulcair on Sept. 18, with the first round of voting results announced on Oct. 1.
