Ontario's 2022 election campaign has not yet officially begun and Andrea Horwath's NDP has wasted no time in calling on one of its biggest hitters for a boost.

Monday was Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan and its month-long dusk-til-dawn fast. It figured prominently in the second-to-last day before the election is called, with Horwath and Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca each dedicating parts of their day to attending Eid celebrations.

Many attendees of the Muslim Association of Canada's (MAC) Eid Festival in Toronto were pleasantly surprised by an appearance by federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who toured the celebrations with Horwath and Chris Glover, the NDP MPP for Spadina—Fort York, who's seeking re-election as well.

The New Democrats struggled to make it more than a few steps before being stopped and asked by festival-goers to take a photo with them or chat. The federal NDP leader seemed to be the main draw and informally liaised excited attendees, along with Glover and Horwath.

Singh, who is Sikh, was the first racialized person to become the leader of a major federal political party in Canada. His parents immigrated to Canada from India.

He has millions of followers across his social media accounts and was viewed in a more positive light than leaders like Justin Trudeau and Erin O'Toole during the last federal election campaign, polls showed.

Singh said he wanted to attend the Eid festival to show "solidarity (with Muslims) ... and make sure they know that they're welcomed and celebrated for who they are."

"Secondly — and most-importantly, I guess — in addition, I'm here to support Andrea, my old boss, who is also a dear friend, and someone who I think is going to help with a lot of unfinished business (in Ontario)," Singh added.

Singh was an NDP MPP for a riding in Brampton for six years before stepping down to run for the federal party's leadership.

Before she went to the MAC's Toronto event, Horwath attended another Eid celebration in Mississauga, where, without Singh, she wasn't treated with the same fanfare.

At the earlier event, Horwath addressed attendees for about 10 minutes. Her speech capped off a string of remarks given by election candidates, including the NDP's Waseem Ahmed and Liberals' Aman Gill, who are both running in Mississauga—Malton.

To the thousands of Muslims in attendance, Horwath promised an NDP government would revive Bill 86, its anti-Islamophobia legislation that would have required schools to more actively combat racism and Islamophobia, and also would have created new safe zones around religious institutions, such as mosques, where penalties would be increased for intimidation. She spoke about other staples of the NDP platform, too, including promises to boost mental health services in the taxpayer-funded system and "accelerate the expansion of dental care."

Close to simultaneously with Horwath's speech, Premier Doug Ford posted — and quickly deleted — a tweet that appeared to confuse the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr with the Sikh celebration of Khalsa Day, which he attended festivities for on Sunday.

NDP MPP Gurratan Singh, younger brother of Jagmeet Singh and the federal leader's successor in Brampton East, jumped on the gaffe, tweeting: "Let's help Doug out: ... Sikhs and Muslims are amazing, but two entirely different communities — Shocking!"

As Jagmeet Singh is of Canada's best-known Sikhs and happened to be attending a Muslim celebration, QP Briefing asked him for his thoughts on Ford's mixup.

"That type of mistake is not where I'm going to focus my critiques of Doug Ford," the federal NDP leader said.

"There are lots of things to critique him (for)," Singh added, and listed several oft-repeated criticisms including that he "helps out his insider friends again and again" and "he hurts people by making the wealthy and powerful — the elite — his priority, and not everyday families."

On the campaign that's scheduled to start after the writes are issued on Wednesday, Singh said he plans to be out supporting Horwath "all the time."

"I'll be a regular," he said.

Horwath had one non-Eid-focused public event on Monday.

Just after 9 a.m., Horwath and Sarah Walji, the NDP candidate for Mississauga Centre, appeared together with a group of health-care workers outside the Trillium Health Partners Mississauga Hospital to announce that, if elected, the NDP would offer 2,000 internationally educated nurses jobs. In its platform last week, the NDP promised to expedite the credentialing process for 15,000 foreign-trained nurses.

The NDP's platform puts significant emphasis on improving Ontario's health-care system. The PCs' budget/platform also proposes billions in new spending on hospitals and to address the sector's labour shortage.

The Liberals' forthcoming platform is expected to also heavily emphasize solutions to the province's health-care challenges.

On Monday, Horwath said the difference between the NDP and the other major parties is that the PCs and Liberals have proven while in government over the last two decades that they're incapable of fixing Ontario's system.

"(Ontario's health care) has gone from bad to worse since the Liberals left and the Conservatives have been in for four years ... Every government is going to build the infrastructure. The question people have, and people are asking themselves, is, 'Which party is going to do right by the working people of this province, and by the working health professionals here?"

Ontario NDP tap Jagmeet Singh’s star status for pre-campaign boost

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