Canada: Trudeau Govt in Minority After NDP Pulls Support
Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) leader, Jagmeet Singh, has withdrawn from the 'supply and confidence' agreement his party had signed with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals in 2022....
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Facts
- Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) leader, Jagmeet Singh, has withdrawn from the 'supply and confidence' agreement his party had signed with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals in 2022.[1]
- The Liberals-NDP agreement — which committed the NDP to support the Liberals on key confidence votes in exchange for Trudeau backing the NDP's key legislative priorities — was scheduled to run until June 2025.[2]
- The agreement — which differed from a coalition, where political parties share power — was the first such formal agreement between two parties at the Canadian federal level and allowed Trudeau's minority government to function as if it had a majority.[3]
- In withdrawing his support on Wednesday, Singh said the Liberals were 'too weak, too selfish' to fight for Canadians or stop Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre from winning the election next fall.[4]
- Alleging that Trudeau 'always cave[s] to corporate greed,' Singh added that he will run in the 2025 election to 'stop Conservative cuts.'[5]
- Reacting to Singh's announcement, Trudeau said he'll 'let others focus on politics' while his government will focus on fixing the affordability crisis and addressing climate change.[6]
- Trudeau's government can survive if the Liberals court one of the three main opposition parties or the NDP abstains on a vote of confidence, which the Conservatives could propose when the House of Commons returns on Sept. 16. Losing a confidence vote can trigger a general election.[7]
Sources: [1]Global News, [2]The Globe and Mail, [3]BBC News, [4]Bloomberg, [5]CBC, [6]Radio and [7]Reuters.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by The Globe and Mail and New York Times. The key reason for the NDP to withdraw support from the Liberals now is a fundamental difference in values on corporate greed between the two parties. Additionally, many of the promises the Liberals made to the NDP have yet to be fully realized. A true leader leads people out of adversity, but Trudeau let people down. He doesn't deserve another chance from Canadians. The country is fed up with the Liberals — the tide is turning on Trudeau.
- Narrative B, as provided by Policy Magazine and Global News. Singh has not just stabbed Trudeau in the back, but his stunt also risks putting all of the successful programs the government has implemented over the last three years and bringing the hard-right Conservatives to power. Following Poilievre's call to abandon his agreement with the Liberals would backfire for the NDP. The agreement's end will help cement Trudeau's position as leader, while Singh will have to part with the power it had while the agreement was in effect.
- Narrative C, as provided by The Conversation and The Globe and Mail. The Liberals-DNP agreement was a marriage of convenience, and it ended because it was no longer convenient. There's no need to celebrate or fear the fall of the government. Canadians never asked for a parliamentary alliance that resulted in the longest-lived minority government in Canada's history and did little good to its people. Exhausted Canadians yearn for a healthy political environment wherein lawmakers focus on specific issues facing the country, not on looking for a change in leadership all the time.
