Sep 05, 2024 - 01:03
By cbc.ca

The NDP is ending its governance agreement with the Liberals

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is terminating the supply-and-confidence agreement his party made with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.

The party made the announcement in a video posted to social media Wednesday afternoon. The deal was scheduled to run until June 2025.

«Justin Trudeau has proven again and again he will always cave to corporate greed. The Liberals have let people down. They don't deserve another chance from Canadians,» Singh said in the video.

«There is another, even bigger battle ahead. The threat of Pierre Poilievre and Conservative cuts. From workers, from retirees, from young people, from patients, from families — he will cut in order to give more to big corporations and wealthy CEOs.»

Singh said the Liberals will not stand up to corporate interests and he will be running in the next election to «stop Conservative cuts.»

A spokesperson for the NDP told CBC News the plan to end the agreement had been in the works for the past two weeks — and that the party would not inform the Liberal government of its decision until an hour before the video was scheduled to go live online.

A senior government source told CBC News that the Prime Minister's Office was informed at 12:47 p.m. Singh posted the video on social media at 12:55 p.m.

The confidence-and-supply agreement struck between the two parties in March 2022 committed the NDP to supporting the Liberal government on confidence votes in exchange for legislative commitments on NDP priorities.

The deal, which ensured the survival of the minority Liberal government, was the first such formal agreement between two parties at the federal level.