After months of speculation, Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has ripped up the agreement that
bound his party to the federal Liberal government and that had helped keep Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau’s minority Liberals in power — sowing seeds of uncertainty and early elections in Canada which
otherwise are due in late 2025.
The Liberal Party of Canada and Canada’s New Democratic Party signed Supply and Confidence
Agreement in 2022 which was to run until June of 2025. The agreement meant that the NDP agreed to
support the government on confidence and budgetary matters. Under the agreement, NDP would not
move a vote of non-confidence, nor vote for a non-confidence motion during the term of the
arrangement.
The end of the Supply and Confidence Agreement does not automatically send voters to the polls. It
means that every Liberals will have to look for political support on a case-by-case basis on key votes,
such as budgets, in order to stay afloat and stay away from a potential election.
In a video posted on social media Wednesday, Singh announced he’s decided to cut ties with the
governing party.
“The deal is done,” Singh said. The fact is, the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to
corporate interests to fight for people,” Singh said in a video address to Canadians on September 5.
“They cannot stop the Conservatives. But we can.”
With the NDP’s support, Liberal government has pushed through social programs designed to address
the cost of living. “Through the Supply and Confidence Agreement, the NDP has delivered free dental
care for millions of Canadians and pharmacare legislation, which together represent the largest
expansion of free Canadian health care in generations. Through the Agreement, the NDP also delivered
the Early Learning and Child Care Act to lower the price of child care, and anti-scab and sustainable jobs
legislation to protect workers. All of those measures were opposed by both Liberals and Conservatives
until the NDP forced the Liberals to enact them,” Singh said.
But the NDP’s Singh had expressed growing frustration with Trudeau in recent months, especially over
what he said was the Liberals’ failure to deal with high prices at grocery stores.
“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 he will always cave to corporate greed. The Liberals have let people down. They don’t
deserve another chance from Canadians,” Singh said.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has been pushing Singh to pull out his support to Liberals. Just a
week before, Poilievre called on Singh to join with him in calling for a carbon tax election. In a letter to
Singh, Poilievre said, “Pull out of the costly coalition and vote non-confidence in the government this
September to trigger a carbon tax election in October of THIS YEAR. Or you will forever be known as
‘Sellout Singh.”
Singh on the other hand clearly sent the message that pulling their de-facto support for the Liberals
doesn’t mean he is ready to push for an election or support to Conservatives. In fact in the video
message, Singh distant himself from the Conservatives. “There is another, 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. The fact
is, the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people.
They cannot be change, they cannot restore the hope, they cannot stop the Conservatives. But we can.”
Singh said that in the next federal election, Canadians will choose between Pierre Poilievre’s callous cuts
or hope. Hope that when we stand united, we win. That Canada’s middle class will once again thrive
together. He said that he will be running for Prime Minister because “together, we can and will stop
Conservative Cuts.”
Pierre Poilievre held a press conference after the announcement Wednesday, Sept. 4, at the Vancouver
Island, where he characterized NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s decision to end the agreement as a stunt.
“Mr. Singh promised he’d be an opposition voice, but then sold-out Canadians by signing on to a costly
coalition with Justin Trudeau that has hiked your taxes, doubled your housing prices, and unleashed
crime, chaos, drugs and disorder in your communities. Despite his announcement, Mr. Singh refuses to
say that he would vote non-confidence to bring down his costly coalition partner and cause a carbon tax
election,” he said.
This major political announcement comes with just a week and a half to go before Parliament resumes,
and less than a week before Singh and Trudeau are scheduled to meet with their caucuses to plot
strategy for the fall sitting.
Reacting to the news – which he was only informed of shortly before Singh went public – the prime
minister said he’s going to remain focused on Canadians’ concerns until the next election “hopefully not
until next fall.”
“I’m not focused on politics. I’ll let other parties focus on politics. I’m focused on actually delivering the
things that Canadians told me this summer they need,” Trudeau said, speaking at an announcement
about the Liberals’ school food lunch program(opens in a new tab), in Rocky Harbour, N.L.
The prime minister also said he hopes the NDP stay focused on delivering for Canadians and help
cement the policies they remain aligned on, in the face of their shared concern about prospective
Conservative cuts.
“I think the NDP is going to have to make decisions about whether or not they want to stand with Pierre
Poilievre,” Trudeau said. “I certainly hope that the NDP will stay true to its fundamental values.”
