“We separated religion from the state.  If he wants to represent Canada, he should get rid of his religious headgear and get his beard trimmed.” A commenter wrote on a recent CBC video entitled: Jagmeet Singh on the campaign trail | Day 10

Another commenter said he had assumed Singh was a rasta, judging by his appearance.

“‘Genuine’ candidate?” another wrote “I’m sorry is this a joke? Why is CBC pushing this guy so much? … He’s a used car salesman with ambition...at best.”

This begs the question; can Canadians trust a leader in beards?  Former Prime Ministers Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Joe Clark, Jean Chretien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper have all spotted the clean-shaven look, and for good reason.

A YouGov poll quoted in Newsweek reveals that people are more likely to judge character positively based on a lack of facial hair.

In a 2012 studycited in the journal Behavioral Ecology, Australian ecologist Barnaby Dixson and Canadian psychologist Paul Vasey found that bearded men are judged to be significantly more aggressive than their clean-shaven counterparts.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that people would generally trust clean-shaven men over their bearded counterparts. Justin Trudeau had a beard when he was just a member of parliament and got rid of it while running for Prime Minister.

Listening to Mr. Singh speak, one would notice he comes across as a socially-progressive Canadian, who has more integrity and sincerity than most present-day political leaders, but some are worried that his appearance might cost him the seat for which he aspires.

The NDP candidate seems to assume that every criticism on his appearance is a criticism on his religion and beliefs and is intent on getting people to accept his appearance the way it is, “Well, there's some work to be done because it's to be divisive and troubling that laws that are designed to discriminate [against] someone because of the way they look are supported by people.” He told CBC in a recent interview, “It means what I've always known — there's a lot of challenges and those challenges mean trying to breaking some of the barriers that exist, and maybe some of the myths or stereotypes that make people think that just because someone looks different, that there is a justification to then treat them differently.”

Mr. Singh's bearded look is the most probable reason behind the NDP's woes in the polls including Quebec where they are slated to lose all of their seats. About Quebec, Singh says that even though the NDP government wouldn't challenge Quebec's religious symbols law in court, he hopes his own public identity can change Quebecers' minds about wearing religious symbols.

"I'm a bearded, turbaned man that's going to Quebec and saying, 'I love the French language, I respect the unique identity of Quebec and I want to fight to defend it and I'm proud of who I am,’” said the NDP Leader.

Mr. Singh is ignoring the fact that, with those beards, he may never get to utter any policy platform that is going to win over Canadians.