Jagmeet Singh hints at elections, but doesn't say whether he'll call them

Photo: Christopher Katsarov La Presse canadienne Au cours de sa conférence de presse à Toronto, le chef néodémocrate Jagmeet Singh n’a pas laissé le moindre indice sur sa volonté de défaire, ou non, le gouvernement libéral cet automne.

The leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh, categorically refuses to say whether he intends to plunge Canada into a new election campaign, but limits himself to repeating that this scenario has become “more likely” since he tore up his agreement with the Liberal Party.

“We’re going to look at every vote, and we’re going to decide what’s in the best interests of Canadians and Quebecers. We’re going to study every vote through that lens,” the NDP leader repeated on Thursday, on the sidelines of a speech given to his supporters in Toronto.

No journalist present at this widely followed press briefing was able to get any clue as to his desire to defeat — or not — the Liberal government this fall. Jagmeet Singh stuck to a prepared formula: he has torn up his agreement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and is “well aware that an election is more likely than in the past.”

Is he prepared to support the motion of censure against the government that the Conservative Party of Canada plans to present in the House of Commons as soon as Parliament resumes? ? “We don’t want to presuppose the outcome of that,” replied Mr. Singh. “We are prepared to face an election, whenever it comes.”

“I can’t guess when an election date is going to come!” he said after being asked in several different ways whether he expected Canadians to go to the polls this fall.

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An opportunity for the Bloc

Former NDP strategist Karl Bélanger believes that Jagmeet Singh’s troops could have a hard time demonstrating that they are distancing themselves from the Liberals if they continue to vote alongside them. “The NDP has lost substance to the Bloc Québécois, which can put its “Captain Quebec” cap back on and say that it will seek gains in Ottawa,” analyzes the man who is now president of Traxxion Stratégies.

Reached by Le Devoir, the Bloc Québécois House leader, Alain Therrien, does not rule out the possibility that his party could save the Trudeau government. For example, he would reject a motion of censure written in partisan terms by the Conservatives, and opens the door to defeating this motion in exchange for a gain “for Quebec.” “If we find that there is a good collaboration [with the Trudeau government], we are ready to continue it for a little while,” he says.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh himself agreed that the Liberals could now conclude agreements with the Bloc Québécois.

Against Pierre Poilievre

In his speech delivered in both languages ​​on Thursday, Mr. Singh first repeated the arguments put forward the day before to break his support and confidence agreement, a unique arrangement in federal political history that was supposed to allow Justin Trudeau’s minority government to remain in power until 2025. He portrayed the Liberal prime minister as “unable to stand up to CEOs,” accusing him of breaking his promises and “abandoning Canadians.”

The leader of the fourth party in the House of Commons then reframed the political debate of the next election campaign as a never-ending duel between the NDP and the Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Singh assures that he will run “to be [the] prime minister.” “In the next federal election, people will have the choice between Mr. Poilievre's Conservative cuts, or hope for the future brought by the New Democrats,” he presents.

On Wednesday, the leader of the official opposition, Pierre Poilievre, reiterated his urgent request to Jagmeet Singh, but also to the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, to call an election as soon as possible.

“At some point, the Bloc will have to decide, [just like] Jagmeet Singh: will they vote again for the 189th time to keep Justin Trudeau in power, and keep the debts and deficits accordingly, or will they vote to call an election on the carbon tax ?” invited Mr. Poilievre from British Columbia.

The last federal election was held on September 20, 2021. It brought Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to power for a third term, a second in a minority position. This means that the government must find at least one other opposition party to support each of its bills.

A new election can be called if a majority of MPs withdraw their confidence in the government.