Singh Withdraws From the Deal That Kept Trudeau In Power

It's (allegedly) over.

That escalated quickly:

The federal New Democrats have pulled their support from the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberal government.

The move puts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority at risk of falling at any time in the coming weeks or months if it loses any confidence votes, which could trigger a snap election as soon as this fall.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a video released by the NDP on Wednesday that the Liberals “have let people down” and failed to take on “corporate greed.”

 

There are, naturally, reasons:

Cabinet is “too weak, too selfish” to deal with, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said yesterday in dissolving a vote pact with the Prime Minister. Singh’s formal rejection of the Supply And Confidence Agreement came nine months after cabinet reneged on its terms: “Do you now have to start thinking about maybe calling an election?”

 

Whatever you say, Mr. Rolex!

Since supporting Justin, Jag has helped pass the crippling carbon tax and the ineffectual dental plan.

Knowing that his pension is on the line and that the NDP will never find an electoral perch so high as they do now, Jag will not go against Justin should there be a no-confidence motion later on this month.

No, Justin and Jag need each other.

Jag merely read the room and decided to play moderate.

But he will always look after himself:

Over the past two years Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have been highly critical of the government, but whenever the opportunity presented itself to vote against their proposals, they didn’t. By saying one thing but doing another, they’ve painted themselves as hypocritical blowhards in the minds of many Canadians. They need time to counter that perception, which isn’t going to happen overnight.

Then there is their finance situation, which isn’t rosy either.

It was only in February of this year that the NDP finally paid off the $22-million loan that it took out to run its 2021 campaign. In the relatively short 7 months since then, it’s unlikely they’ve raised enough to fight what is shaping up to be a bitterly contested election without the need to go deeply into debt again.

That daunting prospect will likely see the NDP maintain their current trend of voting with the Liberals in order to avoid an election for as long as possible. Because as their support slumps, a decline in contributions is also to be expected. As it is, fundraising numbers from January to March this year already showed the NDP lagging behind the other parties. During that period the NDP were only able to raise $1.3 million in contributions compared to the Liberals $3.1 million, and the Conservatives $10.7 million. Ouch.

So, while there’s no doubt that a confrontation at the polls is approaching, today’s announcement offers little evidence that it is any closer to happening than it was yesterday.

Yes, the coalition may no longer officially exist on paper, but it does unofficially because Jagmeet Singh and the NDP would rather do almost anything than support a Conservative non-confidence motion.