NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday that the New Democratic Party will not bow to demands from the Bloc Quebecois and Conservative leadership to help topple the Liberal government.
His party is now the only thing standing between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party and an early election, with the other two opposition parties vowing to seek to topple the minority government at the next opportunity.
On Tuesday, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said he would follow through on his threat to work with other opposition parties to defeat the Liberal Party with a vote of no confidence.
If the Liberals and NDP vote together, the Conservatives and Bloc together don’t have enough MPs to do so.
Singh said he had no intention of “playing their game.”
“I will not give the decision to Pierre Poièvre or ‘King Kat’ or Bloc,” Singh said, appearing to debut the Conservative leader’s new nickname on Wednesday.
Singh said he doesn’t support the Liberal Party, which he maintains is ready to campaign, but won’t do it unless he thinks it will help Canadians.
“We’re not going to have them cut back on what people need,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said when asked if the New Democratic Party intended to work with Bloc Quebecois and the Conservative Party to overthrow the government. On Tuesday, a deadline set by the bloc for Liberals to meet the party’s demands, Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet said he would begin working with the opposition to topple the government.
“I’m going to consider every bill and motion that comes forward, and if it helps people during this difficult time, I’m going to consider it,” he said.
The Conservative Party has already made two attempts this autumn to overthrow the minority government by introducing a pair of no-confidence motions. Both motions failed and received no support from the NDP or Bloc.
Last month, Prime Minister Blanchett gave the Liberals a deadline to pass two bills aimed at protecting seniors’ security and supply management to avoid a pre-Christmas election.
After the Liberals missed that deadline on Tuesday, Blanchett said the government was now at grave risk of falling in the next vote of no confidence.
