Conservative Leader Pierre Poirierbre has written to New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh urging him to withdraw his support for the Liberal government so Canadians can vote this fall instead of next year as scheduled.
“Canadians cannot afford or even tolerate another year of this costly coalition government. No one voted for you to keep Trudeau in power. You do not have the authority to keep him in power for another year,” Poirierbre wrote in the letter.
“We will withdraw from the costly coalition government this September and pass a motion of no confidence in our government, which will lead to carbon tax elections in October this year, or we will forever be known as ‘Singh the traitor’,” Poirierbre said.
Poirievre’s challenge to Singh comes as the two parties face off in a federal by-election in Manitoba, with the Sept. 16 vote expected to be a closely contested contest between Conservative and New Democratic Party candidates.
In response to Poirievre’s comments, NDP Leader in the House of Commons Peter Julien said, “For Jagmeet Singh, leaving the agreement is always an option.”
“Let’s be clear: Pierre Poirierbre wants to win the election because he wants to cut health care, cut pensions and cut earned income insurance to give more money to big corporations. He wants to ensure that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme does not get implemented this fall. We are fundamentally opposed to his plans for cuts,” Julien said.
Julien said the party believes in “Canadian values of taking care of your neighbour” and that this will “guide us both before and after the election.”
NDP national leader says it’s not Poirievre’s decision
In an interview with CBC News, NDP national leader Anne McGrath said it’s not up to Premier Poirievre to decide when the Supply and Confidence Agreement between her party and the Liberals will end.
Before signing the agreement, the NDP extracted several policy promises in exchange for supporting the Liberals.
The government has promoted the expansion of social security through new medical and dental insurance schemes, and has also enacted “anti-strikebreaker” laws banning replacement workers.
“Pierre Poirievre doesn’t have the power to make that decision. I think it’s in the hands of the New Democrats how to proceed with the agreement and what the outcome is,” she said.
McGrath said the NDP will demand that Ottawa move forward with new social programs and wants to get more out of the government while the agreement is still in place.
“Exiting the agreement is always on the table, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” she said, adding that the NDP wants the government to expand the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which currently only covers contraceptives and diabetes medications.
McGrath said the NDP is also calling on the government to “improve the EI system.”
“The Liberal party is losing momentum and will not have as much influence at the next election. When the election comes, we will take on Pierre Poirierbre and work hard to ensure Canadians get what they deserve from their government,” she said.
Trudeau defends choice of ‘policy over personality’
Poirierbre said one reason Singh should get Canadians to vote now is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not “reset” his cabinet at a government meeting in Halifax this week, after some Liberal MPs wanted a cabinet reshuffle after the bitter defeat in the Toronto-St. Paul by-election, meaning “all the ministers who have caused crime, prices and housing prices to rise will stay in place.”
Asked why he had not reshuffled his cabinet, Trudeau said he was focusing on policies rather than people to improve his government’s standing among Canadians.
Trudeau announced a crackdown on a low-wage temporary foreign worker program that some experts say is out of control, and signaled further changes to the country’s immigration system could come this fall.
Trudeau also imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles to support Canada’s auto manufacturing industry and compete with government-subsidized cars from China.
Speaking at a news conference at the Capitol on Thursday, Poirierbre said Singh had abandoned the labor movement by supporting a government that forced the Teamsters union, which represents rail workers, into binding arbitration with CN and CPKC.
The unions wanted to resolve their differences with the railroads at the negotiating table, accusing the government of violating their charter-protected right to collective bargaining.
Labour Minister Stephen McKinnon said allowing the strike at Canada’s two railways to continue would cripple the economy, and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said allowing the rail shutdown to continue for much longer would be a “self-inflicted wound.”
The Canada Labour Relations Board ultimately sided with the Liberals.
Poirievre sets his sights on Shin
Poirievre did not say what he would have done if he had been faced with an economically damaging strike by rail workers.
The prime minister blamed the rail strikes on a dispute over wages at a time of high inflation and argued that inflation would not be a problem if he was elected.
“Jagmeet Singh, stop betraying workers and stop being a traitor Mr Singh. Put the people over the pension vote in the carbon tax election now,” Poirierbvre said, suggesting he would postpone the election until Singh was eligible for an MP pension.
Singh, who was first elected in 2019, will be eligible to receive his retirement benefits when his six-year term as a member of parliament ends at the end of February 2025.
Poirièvre, who was first elected in 2004, became eligible for a pension in 2010.
“Justin Trudeau is not going to resign. He has to be fired, and the person who can do that is Jagmeet Singh,” Poiriebre said.
Earlier, Government Leader Karina Gould said she was confident the NDP’s supply and confidence agreement to keep the Liberal government in power would remain in place until its scheduled end date in June 2025.
“We have signed a contract until the end of June, that’s what’s been signed and agreed so we’re going to work on that basis,” she said.
The agreement, first signed in March 2022, allows the government to continue in power without fear of losing a confidence vote.
If the two parties stick to the agreement, there will be no federal election until next summer at the earliest.
