NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has again vowed to vote non-confidence in the minority Liberal government to trigger an election.
When asked by reporters whether there was anything that would change his previous statement that he would vote non-confidence at the next opportunity, Singh said he had been “really clear on this point.”
“I’m going to reiterate it. We will be voting against the government at the earliest occasion,” Singh said during a Jan. 20 interview on CBC’s “Power & Politics.”
In his response, Singh also criticized the Liberal Party for opting to prorogue Parliament until March 24.
“They could have had Parliament be back in session. We could have been voting on things that need to be done for Canadians. They chose to prorogue,” he said. “We are going to be voting against the government at the earliest opportunity.”
Singh previously said in December he would table a non-confidence motion to bring down the minority government, but that was before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plan to resign as soon as the Liberal Party chooses a new leader.
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Shortly after Trudeau’s resignation announcement on Jan. 6, Singh told reporters he would be “voting against this government for an election,” which he reiterated on Jan. 20.
The NDP previously had a supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals, under which it supported the governing party in key confidence votes in exchange for legislation sought by the NDP. Singh ended that agreement on Sept. 4, saying his party would decide how to vote on future confidence motions on a case-by-case basis.
The NDP then voted to support the Liberal Party in three subsequent non-confidence motions introduced by the Tories, including one that used Singh’s own words of criticism of the government. With the Liberals holding 153 seats in the House of Commons, the 119 Conservative MPs need the support of the 33 Bloc Québécois and 25 NDP MPs to achieve a majority of 169 votes for a successful non-confidence motion.
The Liberal Party is currently in the midst of a leadership race that is set to end on March 9 when the party elects a new leader. Six candidates have officially entered the race or announced their intention to run.
Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland have emerged as the two front-runners in the race, with a recent Jan. 13 Leger poll showing Carney has 27 percent support among Liberals, followed by 21 percent for Freeland.
If Carney were to win the race, it would be a rare instance where the leader of the party does not hold a seat. Lacking both a seat in the House of Commons and the support of other parties, Carney may choose to immediately ask the governor general to call an election.
That decision would be popular among Canadians, according to a new poll. A Jan. 21 Ipsos poll said 77 percent of respondents want an immediate federal election to choose a prime minister with a “strong mandate” to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
