NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is terminating the supply-and-confidence agreement his party made with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.
The party made the announcement in a video posted to social media Wednesday afternoon. The deal was scheduled to run until June 2025.
“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 in the video, a transcript of which was obtained by CBC News.
“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.”
Singh said the Liberals will not stand up to corporate interests and he will be running in the next election to “stop Conservative cuts.”
A spokesperson for the NDP told CBC News the plan to end the agreement had been in the works for the past two weeks — and that the party would not inform the Liberal government of its decision until an hour before the video was scheduled to go live online.
A senior government source told CBC News that the Prime Minister’s Office was informed at 12:47 p.m.
The confidence-and-supply agreement struck between the two parties in March 2022 committed the NDP to supporting the Liberal government on confidence votes in exchange for legislative commitments on NDP priorities.
The deal, which ensured the survival of the minority Liberal government, was the first such formal agreement between two parties at the federal level.
‘I’ll let others focus on politics,’ Trudeau says
Speaking in Rocky Harbour, N.L. after Singh made his announcement, Trudeau said his government is more focused on tackling the affordability crisis and climate change.
“These are the things that we’re focused on. I’ll let others focus on politics,” Trudeau said.
“I really hope the NDP stays focused on how we can deliver for Canadians, as we have over the past years, rather than focusing on politics.”
Trudeau said he hopes the next election will not happen “until next fall” so that his government has time to move forward on pharmacare, dental care and school food programs.
“The contrast with a Conservative leader that wants to cut … the programs that Canadians are relying on to get through this difficult time, well, that will be a political decision that Canadians get to take in an election,” he said.
Some promises in deal yet to be fulfilled
Through the confidence-and-supply agreement, the NDP kept the the minority Liberal government in power in exchange for movement on key priorities such as dental care benefits, one-time rental supplements for low-income tenants and a temporary doubling of the GST rebate.
But some of the promises the Liberal government made to the NDP have yet to be fully realized.
Pharmacare legislation hasn’t passed the Senate and a bill to implement Elections Act changes is still before the House. A promised Safe Long-Term Care Act has yet to be tabled.
While the Liberals and NDP have started to roll out a pharmacare plan by agreeing to provide free contraception and diabetes treatments, the federal government has not yet completed deals with provincial governments to actually deliver those benefits.
The new federal dental care program won’t be fully implemented until early next year.
The end of the confidence-and-supply agreement doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate election. The Liberals could seek the support of the Bloc Québécois or try to continue negotiating with the NDP on a case-by-case basis.
Last week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on Singh to pull out of the agreement. In response to Poilievre, Peter Julian, the NDP’s House leader, said that “leaving the deal is always on the table for Jagmeet Singh.”
Poilievre’s call came in the midst of a byelection campaign in Elmwood–Transcona, a Manitoba riding where Conservatives have tended to finish second to the NDP.
The Conservative Party hopes to pick up ridings in British Columbia and northern Ontario currently represented by New Democrats.
A byelection in the Montreal riding of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, formerly held by the Liberals, will be held Sept. 16.
Calling Singh’s statement a “media stunt” in a post on X, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the NDP leader for not saying whether he will vote non-confidence in the government at the earliest opportunity.
“Canadians need a carbon tax election NOW to decide between the Costly Coalition of NDP-Liberals,” the post said.
In a media release accompanying his announcement, Singh said “the NDP is ready for an election, and voting non-confidence will be on the table with each and every confidence measure.”
On Tuesday, NDP labour critic Matthew Green said the NDP has been re-evaluating the deal since Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration less than 24 hours after Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway locked out their workers after failing to reach a deal at the bargaining table.
