The NDP plans to move several more items off its legislative agenda in the next legislative session, including a landmark drug bill, anti-scab legislation and support for fossil fuel workers facing the transition to a low-carbon economy. I’m trying to remove it.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his caucus are meeting in Edmonton from Tuesday to Thursday. They will discuss the upcoming spring budget, which will force the Liberal government to fulfill remaining commitments under the supply and confidence agreement with the New Democrats.
A recent realignment among party leaders appears aimed at focusing the party’s attention on these remaining commitments.
Anne McGrath, the party’s former national director, has announced that she will be working on a new team dedicated to negotiating a Supply and Confidence Agreement (or SACA, as the New Democratic Party calls it) with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government. I got a job.
“We have something we want to accomplish and it’s something that’s really important to Canadians,” McGrath said more than a week after he was named Singh’s chief of staff.
In March 2022, the NDP agreed to support the minority Liberal government in a vote of confidence in the House of Commons in exchange for action on New Democratic Party policy priorities. Under the terms of that agreement, which is set to expire in 2025, the Liberals are still obligated to enact NDP legislation. This includes the Pharmacare Act, which could lay the groundwork for extending drug insurance coverage to more Canadians.
“We have an election coming up… and we need to accomplish several things to get us over the finish line. Pharmacare is one of them, but sustainable jobs and anti-scab legislation are also one of them.” said McGrath.
“There’s a lot of things in that agreement that need to be taken care of… having another person there… is a good idea.”
McGrath will be in Edmonton for the caucus, where members of the Edmonton and Alberta provinces will meet behind closed doors and hold a variety of public events to address local political issues.
It’s no secret that federal New Democrats view Alberta’s capital as one of their key battlegrounds. The local New Democratic Party has proven the party can make inroads in Edmonton.
Blake Desjarlais, a federalist MP in Edmonton, defeated a Conservative incumbent in 2021. DesJarlais said the Edmonton meeting is an opportunity for the NDP to reconnect with its prairie roots.
He said party MPs would be meeting around the clock for three days with labor officials, medical experts and constituents from all backgrounds. Desjarlais said this session will help refine the party’s strategy over the coming months.
DesJarlais, who is also vice chair of the NDP caucus, said he wants his party to focus on desirable solutions to the housing crisis. He said the party needed to focus on how housing speculation and investment was distorting house prices.
“When I think about our liberal and conservative friends, when we discuss this topic, they often never want to talk about markets. They talk about supply, they talk about demand, and they talk about why. “We talk about what crisis we are in,” he said. “But they often never talk about the market.”
Desjarlais and other party members are scheduled to hold a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday morning. Singh is scheduled to speak to reporters around noon, then host a city council meeting on cost of living at 6pm local time.
