NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says heâs aware pulling his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals makes an early election âmore likely,â but he dropped the deal because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau âhas let Canadians down.â
Facing questions for the first time Thursday, after making the major announcement Wednesday in a campaign-style video, Singh doubled down on his assertion that the Liberals âcanât deliver change.â
âWe've got a lot done⌠but it became very clear to me that Justin Trudeau is too beholden to corporate interests to go further,â Singh said. âWe know that that makes the election timing more uncertain and, frankly, more likely.â
He said he thinks Trudeau is âtoo weak and too selfish to stop Pierre Poilievre,â framing the next election as a choice between the NDP and the Conservatives.
Designed to inject stability in exchange for policy progress when it was inked back in 2022, the two-party pact was set to expire in June 2025, when the House of Commons is to wrap ahead of the next fixed-date election.
Pressed by reporters on why he extracted his party from the deal, and whether Liberalsâ handling of the recent national rail labour dispute was a factor, Singh said it added to his case. He called it a âconcrete exampleâ of Trudeau âcaving to corporate greed.â
In an interview on ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channelâs Power Play with Vassy Kapelos, Singh went a step further, saying the Liberalsâ overall âapproach towards working peopleâ put him off.
âWe always knew that at some point we would have to make this decision, that we weren't going to stay in this forever,â Singh said.
In taking the certainty of NDP support off the table, the Liberals will once again have to look for political support on a case-by-case basis on key votes in the House of Commons in order to stay in power.
As for his intentions when it comes to future confidence votes that could determine when the next federal election is called, Singh said he plans to consider each confidence measure on its merits.
âWe will look at every vote as it comes and make a decision as it comes. I'm not going to presuppose the outcome of a vote before it happens,â he said.
Singh outlines vision of 'hope'
In his opening remarks at the press conference, the NDP leader outlined his âvision for Canada.â
Portraying the country as in a place where âthe Canadian dream is fading,â while âelitesâ are âbetter off than ever,â Singh said the Conservatives would only make it worse, pitching himself as the only prospective prime minister that would change things.
âThere is a battle ahead of us. The fight for the Canada of our dreams. The fight against Pierre Poilievre and his callous agenda of Conservative cuts. The fight to restore hope. And the promise that working hard gets you a good life. Iâm ready for the fight,â Singh said.
The NDP leader said his party will be offering Canadians an option for a âhopeful futureâ while noting the work ahead to convince voters that a New Democrat federal government is possible.
âCynics will say, âCanada has never had an NDP government, itâs not going to happenâŚâ We will not let them tell us it canât be done,â Singh said. âBecause if we are together, nothing is impossible. Big corporations and wealthy CEOs have had their government. Itâs the peopleâs time.â
Singh also asserted that he will be the one to lead the New Democrats into the next election, and whenever it comes, theyâll âbe ready to fight it.â
'Business as usual': Liberal minister
Trudeau has said he plans to stay focused on Canadians and not politics, when Parliament resumes later this month, a message his MPs echoed Thursday.
At a meeting of the Quebec caucus, Liberals said the deal accomplished a lot, but they're focusing on the work ahead.
âItâs business as usual,â Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said.
Poilievre, though, is continuing to push for Singh to help him bring down the minority Liberals and force an early vote.
âHe has sold out Canadians. He signed on to a costly coalition with Trudeau⌠What Iâm saying is stand up for the people who voted for you, vote for a carbon tax election,â he said Thursday.
Though, new Nanos Research numbers indicate Canadians â polled before the two-party pact fell apart â may not be interested in an election right now.
âAbout 54 per cent of Canadians are OK with the Liberals and New Democrats working together to avoid an election,â Nanos said. âYou can see that people are more likely to tilt towards not having an election at this time.â
Liberals tout big fundraising from deal's demise
As speculation over the timing of the next election heats up, the Liberal Party of Canada said Thursday that it had a banner day for fundraising in the 12 hours after Singh scrapped the deal.
The party sent a fundraising email âfrom the desk of Justin Trudeauâ with the subject line: âDisappointing.â In it, Trudeau accuses Singh of doing âas he was toldâ by Poilievre in pulling out of the agreement early, and âabandoning progressive policies.â
âIn March 2022, when the agreement was reached, I said that we couldnât let our differences stand in the way of delivering what Canadians deserve and need. But clearly, Jagmeet Singh and the NDP disagree,â reads the email.
Here's a snippet of the fundraising email, sent from the desk of Justin Trudeauâ with the subject line: âDisappointing.â
â Rachel Aiello (@rachaiello)
Notes an election "can now be called at any moment."
It goes on to say that this time next year they could be âdays into a national campaign,â and asked the party faithful to chip in to be ready for an election that could come âat any moment.â
According to the party, the missive was the âbest fundraising email of 2024 so far.â
Though, the party also took a hit Thursday. The Liberalsâ national campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst announced he is stepping down, after the upcoming federal byelections.
With files from ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝â Mike Le Couteur