OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh moved to distance himself from an increasingly unpopular Liberal party Wednesday when he "ripped up" the supply and confidence agreement he reached with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and pushed himself as the better option for voters who want to beat the Conservatives in the next election.
"The deal is done," Singh said in a social media post announcing the decision Wednesday, bringing an abrupt halt to the pact that has kept the government running and given life to NDP priorities.
In a video posted to multiple social media platforms, Singh indicated his rationale for the decision was about separating from a party he thinks has thumbed its nose at ordinary Canadians, and becoming a clear choice for Canadians in an election fight against the Conservatives and leader Pierre Poilievre.
"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," Singh said in the video directly addressing Canadians.
"The Liberals have let people down. They don’t deserve another chance from Canadians."
In an email to NDP supporters, he was even more clear about his motivation.
"This is a race between us and the Conservatives," he wrote.
Singh and Trudeau reached the agreement in March 2022, committing the Liberals to implement several NDP priorities in exchange for the NDP caucus supporting the Liberals on key votes like budgets.
The Liberals, in a minority government, need the support of at least one other party to pass legislation and keep the government alive in confidence votes.
Many of the affordability measures the Liberals have brought in over recent years, including dental-care benefits, one-time rental supplements for low-income tenants and a temporary doubling of the GST rebate, were NDP priorities. Some came about as a result of the deal.
A legislated ban on replacement workers during a strike or lockout at federally regulated workplaces and a housing accelerator fund that allocated billions of dollars to help build more than 750,000 homes across Canada also came through the deal.
Up until Tuesday, the Liberal government continued to express "confidence" the deal would last until the end, which was to be June 2025.
But New Democrats have always made clear they might not stay in it to the end, and on Wednesday they pulled the plug.
"When Parliament resumes in the fall, New Democrats will responsibly examine all legislation and make our decisions based on what is in the best interests of Canadians," Singh told Trudeau in a letter informing him of the decision.
The letter was sent late Wednesday morning, after the NDP had already begun briefing media about the plan, leaving little room for discussion or negotiation before the news went public.
Breaking the deal doesn't mean the government automatically falls at the next confidence vote. Rather, the NDP will determine how to vote on Liberal legislation on a case-by-case basis, and will attempt to squeeze more measures out of them to help workers and their families.
"We will approach every vote on its own merit," Singh told Trudeau in the letter. "We will push for additional measures to help Canadians; we will fight Pierre Poilievre’s agenda; and we will not shy away from vigorously holding this government to account."
Trudeau was forced to answer questions about the decision within about an hour of finding out, having had a previously scheduled press conference in Newfoundland and Labrador about a national food program.
The program, which Newfoundland signed onto Wednesday, was promised by the Liberals in the last election and the NDP have pushed hard for the government to fund it in the last budget.
Trudeau tried to shrug off the news, repeatedly insisting that he's focused on affordability, housing and the impacts of climate change, not politics.
"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," he said.
Poilievre immediately called Singh's bluff, and challenged him to vote alongside the Opposition on a future confidence motion.
Is "Sellout Singh" serious or a "stunt man," he asked in a press conference Thursday from Nanaimo, B.C. where Liberals will meet next week for their caucus retreat.
"Will he vote for a carbon tax election at the earliest opportunity or will he vote again to keep the costly coalition with Trudeau in power?"
Last week Poilievre held a press conference calling for Singh to break the deal. He blamed him for selling out workers by signing onto a "costly coalition" that he said puts Singh and Trudeau ahead of Canadians.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould accused the NDP of playing into the Conservatives' hands and putting programs like dental care and pharmacare at risk.
"Pierre Poilievre wants to destroy all of this hard work," she said in a statement Wednesday.
"This makes it hard to understand how on the one hand, Jagmeet Singh says that he wants to stand up to Pierre Poilievre, and on the other hand, he’s doing exactly what Mr. Poilievre told him to do less than a week ago and withdrawing from the agreement."
National opinion polls suggest Poilievre's stance on workers' rights and the economy is resonating with Canadians. He continues to hold a substantial lead in polls ahead of Liberals and New Democrats.
New Democrat officials insist that Singh asked his party to start building an exit plan during a June caucus meeting, and decided to pull the plug by mid-August, long before Poilievre wrote to Singh asking him to do so.
New Democrats needed to find a way to distinguish themselves from the Liberals. The next election is at most a year away, and could happen earlier now depending on the NDP"s decisions on future votes.
There are also two critical byelections scheduled for Sept. 16. One, in Winnipeg's Elmwood-Transcona riding, is a longtime NDP seat but one the Conservatives won in 2011 and think they can win back now.
The other is LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, a Liberal stronghold in Montreal, once held by former prime minister Paul Martin, but where the NDP hopes a strong local candidate and displeasure with the Liberals could give them an upset win.
The Liberals lost a Toronto stronghold in a byelection in June, and another loss would be another blow to Trudeau's leadership.
Pressure to end the deal grew in August, when Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Aug. 22 to impose binding arbitration after workers were locked out by Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway.
Singh has since called the minister's decision "a line in the sand that was crossed." While the decision to pull out of the pact had already been made, the move reaffirmed the plan.
Teamsters, which represents more than 10,000 railworkers, praised Singh's decision.
"Now, the government must face the political fallout of their actions," said François Laporte, National President, Teamsters Canada in a statement.
"Teamsters members have only ever sought safe and dignified working conditions; the collapse of this agreement could have been avoided had the government stood with workers instead of corporate interests."
Singh's video also expressed a message of hope as he attempts to unite voters
"We can deliver relief and restore hope. Fix health care, build homes you can afford. Stop price gouging," he said.
"It's always impossible until it isn't. It can't be done until someone does it. If we’re together, nothing is impossible. And we won’t let them tell us it can’t be done."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2024.
Mickey Djuric and Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
