Canada’s left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) has pulled the plug on a two-and-a-half-year deal with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals that helped keep his minority government in power.
In a video posted on social media Wednesday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said he informed the prime minister of his decision, saying the Liberals are “too weak, too selfish” to stand up for Canadians.
The deal — called the “surrender and confidence deal” — had the NDP support the Liberals in a vote of confidence.
The announcement does not automatically mean that a federal election is imminent but that Canadians may go to the polls before the general election scheduled for October 2025.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Singh said a vote of no confidence would be “on the table” with all confidence measures.
Losing a vote of confidence in parliament could trigger a general election.
“The NDP is ready for the election,” said Mr Singh.
Mr Trudeau and Mr Singh reached an agreement in March 2022, with the Liberals pledging to support the NDP on several of the party’s priorities in parliament.
An agreement is different from a coalition, where parties share power.
Instead, the Liberals – who have failed to win a majority in the last two elections – will govern as a minority, but the NDP will surely support them with votes of confidence.
In exchange, Mr. Singh’s party secured progress on key priorities, including dental benefits for low-income families and a national pharmacare program that includes birth control and insulin.
It was the first such formal agreement between the two parties at the federal level.
Until this spring, Mr. Singh and senior members of his party had been publicly committed to the deal.
But the NDP leadership reportedly began re-evaluating the deal last month, behind Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet. directed its industrial relations board to enforce binding arbitration after two of Canada’s largest railroads began a work stoppage.
Announcing the deal, Mr Singh said the Liberals had “let the people down” and “don’t deserve another chance for Canadians”.
Mr. Trudeau, speaking at an event in Newfoundland, told reporters that he hopes to make parliament work and will focus on “moving Canadians forward”.
“I will let others focus on politics,” he said, adding that he hoped the next election would not be held until next fall so that his government would have time to move forward with its plans.
In recent years, Canadian voters have shown increasing frustration with issues such as inflation and the housing affordability crisis.
That has been reflected in the polls, where the Liberals have been at the bottom for months, and national opinion polls suggest the party is 18 points behind the opposition Conservatives.
On Wednesday, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Mr Singh for not committing to a no-confidence vote, dismissing the announcement as “cheerful”.
Last week, he wrote an open letter urging Mr Singh to abandon his deal with the Liberals.
“No one voted to keep Trudeau in power. You have no authority to prolong his government for another year,” Mr Poilievre wrote.
Mr Trudeau has been in power since 2015, and the Liberals won re-election – albeit with a minority – in 2019 and 2021.
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