New Delhi: The New Democratic Party led by Jagmeet Singh, a strong voice of the Sikh community and known as the ‘kingmaker’ in Canada, has announced that it is pulling out of the supply and confidence agreement with the Liberal Party — doing away with the automatic support to the Justin Trudeau government in the House of Commons.
Trudeau now finds himself on a very sticky wicket, facing uncertainty about his government which could force early elections in Canada. The next elections are due in the latter half of 2025.
Singh, said to be the man responsible for Trudeau’s soft approach to the Sikh separatism and gang-war related violence in the country, has also announced his candidacy for the prime minister’s post in the next Canadian federal elections.
“Today I notified the Prime Minister that I have ripped up the Supply and Confidence agreement. Canadians are fighting a battle – a battle for the future of the middle class. Justin Trudeau has proven again and again that he will always cave to corporate greed. The Liberals have let people down, they do not deserve another chance,” declared Singh in a campaign-style video posted on X.
The deal is done.
The Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to stop the Conservatives and their plans to cut. But the NDP can.
Big corporations and CEOs have had their governments. It’s the people’s time. pic.twitter.com/BsE9zT0CwF
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) September 4, 2024
Singh added: “There is an even bigger battle ahead — the threat of Pierre Poilievre and Conservative cuts. From workers, from retirees, from young people, from patients, from families, he will cut in order to give more to big corporations and wealthy CEOs.”
What this means for Trudeau’s party, elections
The announcement does not mean that federal elections need to be held immediately, but poses a challenge to the Liberal Party’s continued role as a minority government. The NDP was not in a coalition with Trudeau’s party, but rather offered support on passing legislation in the House of Commons, to ensure that Trudeau could govern.
Elections could be triggered earlier if the government failed to pass a budget, which is expected in the next few months, or a specific motion in the House of Commons is moved expressing it has lost confidence in the government.
The agreement struck in March 2022 came after the Liberal Party emerged as the largest in the September 2021 general elections, but without a governing majority — it fell 10 short with 160 seats.
The NDP won 25 seats, and through the “supply and confidence agreement”, empowered the Liberal Party to pass budgets and legislation.
Also read: Canadian court turns down two Sikh separatists’ appeal against flying ban
Singh offered no reason for the decision to abandon the Liberals. Trudeau’s government, however, has been on the backfoot in recent months, including losing a byelection in June in the electoral district Toronto–St. Paul’s — a seat considered a bastion for decades.
The Liberals held the seat from 1993 till 2024, and even in the 2011 federal elections which saw the party wiped out across the country. The party has also seen at least 50 political staffers revolt last week in an upcoming byelection in Montreal, over the government’s handling of the war in Gaza — highlighting fractures that Trudeau has to deal with within his own party.
The ruling government is also trailing in opinion polls, with the Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre, consistently notching up a double digit lead in recent months.
The agreement between the Liberal Party and the NDP, which was set to expire in June 2025, was focusing on multiple policy positions in the social sector, with the aim of combatting the cost of living crisis engulfing Canada.
The two had agreed to formulate a plan which would create a publicly-funded system for prescription drugs, as well as a national dental care scheme.
Last week, Poilievre had urged Singh to pull out from the deal to force an election. On Wednesday, the Leader of the Official Opposition in Canada, hit out at Singh’s announcement, calling it a “media stunt”.
“Two years ago, Sellout Singh sold out workers and signed on to a costly coalition with Justin Trudeau that hiked taxes, ballooned food costs, doubled housing costs and unleashed crime and chaos in our once safe streets. In today’s media stunt, Sellout Singh refuses to state whether the NDP will vote with non-confidence to cause a carbon tax election at the first chance,” Poilievre said in a post on X.
Two years ago, Sellout Singh sold out workers and signed on to a costly coalition with Justin Trudeau that hiked taxes, ballooned food costs, doubled housing costs and unleashed crime and chaos in our once safe streets.
In today’s media stunt, Sellout Singh refuses to state…
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) September 4, 2024
(Edited by Tikli Basu)