Canadian politician shocks with announcement that could lead to Trudeau’s fall

Canadians could soon be heading to the voting booths after New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Jagmeet Singh ended his party's supply-and-confidence agreement with Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. 

"Justin Trudeau has proven again and again he will always cave to corporate greed,” Singh said in a video that was posted on social media. “The Liberals have let people down. They don't deserve another chance from Canadians.”

Photo Credit: X @theJagmeetSingh

"There is another, even bigger battle ahead,” Singh added. “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."

In March 2022, Singh and Trudeau reached an agreement that saw their parties strike up a supply-and-confidence deal that offered NDP political support to the Liberals on all confidence votes for a few policy perks. 

Jagmeet and the NDP were promised several legislative commitments from the Liberal Party for their support according to CBC News. These included dental care benefits, a doubling of GST rebates, and one-time rental supplements for low-income households. 

The NDP supply-and-confidence deal was slated to last until June 2025. However, the early end of the deal could signal that an election is looming in Canada’s future sooner than most thought as Trudeau’s political popularity continues to wane with Canadians. 

The NDP and Liberal supply-and-confidence deal was a political winner for Trudeau since it ensured that the Liberals would see support from the NDP on any confidence vote in the House of Commons, meaning that the Liberals could stay in power.

Trudeau and the Liberals only have a minority government at the moment. This means that they do not have enough Members of Parliament to unilaterally pass a confidence vote without the help of others.

A government can fall at any time if it loses a confidence vote according to the website of Canada’s parliament. So Singh’s decision to end the NDP’s supply-and-confidence with the Liberals is a big move, though not everyone believes it means a quick election. 

“The Liberal government is on shakier ground now that it can't rely on the NDP to prop it up on confidence votes,” wrote John Paul Tasker of CBC News. The Liberals could “still engage in some horse-trading with the NDP” or the other federal parties, Tasker added. 

Tasker pointed out that any of the opposition parties could support the Liberal's agenda by picking and choosing when and where to place support. All the NDP move really did was make more consensus with other parties necessary to keep Trudeau in power. 

Canada probably isn’t heading for an election now according to Tasker, but the country is likely going to have one much sooner than planned now that the Liberals don’t have blanket support on confidence votes from the NDP. 

While the future of Canada’s leadership is undoubtedly more uncertain than it was prior to Singh’s announcement, Trudeau responded to the news by telling Singh and the NDP that they should stay focused on helping Canadians. 

"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 explained while speaking in Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland according to CBC News. 

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre also commented on Singh’s move, calling it a “stunt” and then criticized Singh because he failed to make it clear that the NDP would vote non-confidence in the government. 

"He came out and claimed that he was wrong, that the coalition was a bad, costly idea, but he refuses to commit to voting for a carbon tax election," Poilievre said to reporters while speaking in Nanaimo, British Columbia. 

What will happen next is anyone's guess, but it is likely Poilievre and the Conservatives will try to force a non-confidence vote as soon as possible. Whether or not it will see the Liberal government fall is unknown, but it is now a more likely possibility. 

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