NDP pulls out of supply and confidence deal with Liberal government – National
The federal government The New Democrats withdrew their support for the supply and confidence agreement with the Liberal government.
This decision puts the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau The minority risks falling at any time in the coming weeks or months if it loses confidence votes, which could trigger early elections as early as this fall.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a video released by the NDP on Wednesday that the Liberals “have failed people” and failed to tackle “corporate greed.”
He also presented the NDP as the only party capable of preventing a growing Conservative Party from winning the next election, saying the Liberals are “too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people.”
“Today I informed the Prime Minister that I have torn up the supply and confidence agreement,” Singh said.
“Big business and wealthy CEOs have had their government. It’s the people’s time.”
The House of Commons is expected to resume after summer recess on September 16, after which the NDP will vote on government bills “on a case-by-case basis,” a party official told Global News.
The NDP official told Global News the video was shot some time ago and the decision to pull out of the deal had been in the works for months.
The official added that a key reason the two parties decided to act now was a “fundamental difference in values on corporate greed” between the two parties.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations about the decision. No NDP members were available to speak to media Wednesday.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who urged Singh to withdraw from the deal, called Wednesday’s announcement a “media stunt” and criticized the NDP leader for not committing to a vote of no confidence.
“My message to Sellout Singh is this: If you are serious about ending your costly carbon tax coalition with Trudeau, then commit today to voting for a ‘carbon tax election’ in the first confidence vote in the House of Commons,” Poilievre told reporters in Nanaimo, B.C.
Several bills are still pending in the House and are expected to be passed by the NDP or another party. These include the Online Harms Act and legislation regarding rail and port security, airport standards, expanded advance voting and changes to the military justice system and how it handles cases of sexual misconduct.
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The fall economic statement, usually delivered in October or November, could be a likely candidate for a confidence vote. The opposition can also propose a confidence vote by declaring its lack of confidence in the government or by invoking the government’s prerogative, which can designate any issue it chooses as a confidence question.
Poilievre indicated Wednesday that the Conservatives were prepared to present a confidence motion as soon as possible.
Trudeau: “I’m not focused on politics”
At an announcement in Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday, Trudeau would not say whether an election was imminent, telling reporters that a vote “would happen next year, hopefully not before next fall.”
“I’m not focused on politics,” he said, highlighting steps the government has taken to try to reduce costs for Canadians.
“I really hope that the NDP will continue to focus on how we can meet the needs of Canadians, as we have done over the last few years, rather than focusing on politics.”
Trudeau would not say what conversations he had with Singh before Wednesday’s announcement, but said he hoped to continue working with the NDP on the legislation.
The NDP reached a credit and confidence agreement with the Liberals in 2022, months after voters returned the Liberals to government with another minority in late 2021.
Supply and confidence agreements are different from coalition governments, in which members of several parties sit together in the cabinet and govern jointly.
Under the terms of the deal, the NDP would ensure the Liberals remain in power until the next mandatory election in 2025, in exchange for the government’s support for key NDP priorities.
The deal handed the NDP legislative victories on pharmacare and dental care, two of the biggest pillars of the party’s platform.
But Singh and his caucus have criticized the Liberals for not doing more to address rising corporate and executive profits amid the cost of living crisis. Calls to tax those excess profits and raise corporate taxes have failed to produce concrete action from the government.
The NDP has sharply criticized the government’s intervention in the labour dispute that shut down the rail network last month, accusing the Liberals of undermining union negotiations.
At the time, Singh declined to say whether he would withdraw from the confidence-building agreement because of the labour dispute, but he accused Trudeau of siding with corporations against Canadian workers.
The NDP has also criticized the government’s approach to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, even though the Liberals supported a motion that froze further arms sales to Israel earlier this year.
NDP stagnates as Liberals retreat
Singh is under increasing pressure to withdraw from the deal, particularly from opposition Conservatives, who are eagerly awaiting a snap election as they lead Trudeau’s Liberals by double digits in the polls.
An Angus Reid poll released Wednesday The Conservatives lead the Liberals 43 per cent to 21 per cent, a gap three times wider than in 2022. Support for the NDP, meanwhile, has remained relatively stagnant over the same period, sitting at 19 per cent in Wednesday’s poll.
In June, nearly 70% of Canadians surveyed by Ipsos for Global News said Trudeau should resign as prime minister.
Ipsos also found that 70% of Canadians Canadians believe that “Canada is bankrupt,” a charge Poilievre regularly makes. This sentiment is particularly felt by young Canadians, who gravitate toward the Conservatives in opinion polls.
The Conservatives sought to tie the NDP to the unpopular Liberals by calling the supply and confidence agreement a “Liberal-NDP coalition.”
Poilievre held a press conference last week and sent a letter to Singh asking him to withdraw from the deal and call a “carbon tax election.” He reiterated accusations that Singh was only staying in the deal to qualify for a government pension that requires six years in office.
Poilievre and Trudeau are both already qualified. Singh became an MP on Feb. 25, 2019, meaning he would reach that six-year threshold in early 2025.
—With additional files from Touria Izri of Global
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
