Trudeau says it 'bugged' him when Singh ended governance agreement without calling first

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it «bugged him» when NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh ended his party's supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals without calling first.

«The relationship obviously wasn't what I thought it was,» Trudeau said in a recent conversation with Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith on the Uncommons podcast.

«I know that if I had chosen to end it, it would have started with a call to him. I would have said, 'You know what, Jagmeet? It's not going to work.' You make those tough calls.»

For more than an hour, Trudeau and Erskine-Smith — a maverick Liberal MP with record of voting against his own government — touched on a number of topics, including his party's recent byelection losses, his initial approach to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, the message he'll take into the next election and his biggest regret as prime minister.

The supply-and-confidence agreement struck between the Liberals and the NDP 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. Singh announced the agreement was over last month.

«I don't know why he didn't reach out to call me because … I know he is genuine in wanting to see this country move forward in more progressive ways,» Trudeau said. «For him to do that, that way, it bugged me. It bugged me because I know these things matter to him.»

Trudeau said he thinks Singh made the decision because he was under pressure from his base to end the working relationship with the Liberals and create distance between the parties before the