OTTAWA—The Liberal candidate who narrowly lost the B.C. riding of Burnaby South in the last federal election says his party should buck the perceived “leader’s courtesy” and nominate a contender to take down NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in an upcoming byelection. Adam Pankratz, a business professor at the University of British Columbia, said he would relish the chance run against Singh and may seek the Liberal nomination himself if the party decides to name a candidate. “If you have a chance to beat up on a federal leader, then you do it,” said Pankratz, who sits on the local Liberal party riding association. “You want the representative to be a Liberal, and we can win this riding, so why wouldn’t we do it?” Pankratz said. “I don’t think it’s any secret that Jagmeet Singh is pretty widely considered a weak federal leader.”Burnaby South has been vacant since Sept. 14, when NDP MP Kennedy Stewart resigned the seat to run for Vancouver mayor. Singh, a former lawyer who began his political as a provincial MPP for Brampton and has never held a federal seat, had already heralded his plan to run there, ending months of questioning about when and where he would try to get a seat in the House of Commons.Read more:Veteran NDP MP says resignation of Jagmeet Singh’s chief of staff is the ‘beginning of a big reset’Jagmeet Singh puts on brave face ahead of 2019 electionOpinion | Chantal Hébert: As the NDP’s fortunes slide, Singh battles to stay on topBy law, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has 180 days after Stewart’s resignation to schedule a byelection in Burnaby South — meaning he must say when the contest will be held by March 13. Meanwhile, the Liberals have been repeatedly asked whether they will respect the “leader’s courtesy,” a sportsmanship convention that has been followed by some parties in the past when opposing leaders have sought se ...
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