Ottawa: In a move never before seen in Canadian history, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Jagmeet Singh reached a new agreement that would see the NDP prop up Trudeau and ensure he remains prime minister until 2025. By then, Canada would have a decade of Trudeau government.
The new agreement instantly awards Trudeau the benefits of a majority in the House of Commons. This official pact between the two parties rescues Trudeau and is an undemocratic manipulation that works around Canada’s electoral system. This merger agreement is not to be mistaken for a coalition government. The NDP cannot install government ministers.
Trudeau‘s power grab demonstrates his pattern of authoritarian overreach. In 2020, Trudeau’s Coronavirus Emergency bill granted cabinet “sweeping powers to tax and spend without parliamentary approval through end of 2021.”
Jagmeet Singh has at times been tough on Trudeau over ethics violations. Last July, Singh asked Governor General Mary May Simon - the mostly ceremonial representative of Queen Elizabeth II - to veto Trudeau’s outrageous election call in his failed attempt to gain a majority. But now, Singh has helped Trudeau attain the benefits of a majority.
The new pact ensures that bills introduced in parliament by the Liberals and NDP will be passed by majority vote in the House of Commons. For example, when the House of Commons faces off in debate over a proposed budget Bill, the Liberals would easily win, now having an NDP guarantee, thus surviving a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. Or in another scenario, should one of the opposition parties explicitly state that the House has lost confidence in the incumbent government, thus triggering a confidence motion, a vote of no-confidence will not pass. There are 338 seats in Parliament. The Liberals hold 160 seats as a minority government, the NDP holds only 25; but together, they have 185 seats, which constitutes a majority. The opposition Conservatives hold 119 seats, and the Bloc Quebecois holds 32 seats. This means that even if every member of the Bloc supported the official opposition Conservatives on bills, together the two parties would only have 151 seats, 34 less than the Liberal-NDP alliance. The Green Party, which generally aligns with the NDP, holds the other two seats. The benefits to Trudeau are thus clear, but the deal offers little benefit to Singh in the long term.
