Jagmeet Singh is not happy with Justin Trudeau. Althia Raj writes:
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had tough words for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week.
“It seems like the prime minister is more interested in protecting himself than protecting the electoral system,” he charged in question period.
But, so far, Singh has not pulled the plug on his agreement with Trudeau:
A year after Singh and Trudeau signed a confidence agreement that is scheduled to continue until June 2025, the NDP leader faces, once again, calls to draw a line in the sand — to force the Liberals to announce an inquiry to shed light about who knew what when and what they did about it.
But Singh is unwilling to threaten to pull the plug — at least, not yet.
What's going on?
“Our goal is to get results, so we’re not looking for an excuse to go to an election. We genuinely just want to see things happen,” he said.
There is still a lot left on Singh’s 27-point to-do list. Last fall, the Liberals moved forward on implementing a promise they’d made to the NDP: dental care for children under 12. The program, for low- and middle-income Canadians, is slowly being phased in and won’t be fully implemented until 2025.
At the moment, it remains a stopgap measure, an interim benefit that offers parents a lump sum of up to $650, rather than a full-fledged program.
A cornerstone of the deal, Singh mentioned it 16 times at his news conference on March 22, 2022. “We are doing (the agreement) to get dental care, to get pharmacare, to get important action on the housing crisis, on the climate crisis, and to make sure people get the help they need,” he said.
Singh still hasn't got a lot of what he wanted.
We'll see how long the marriage will last.
Image: The Toronto Star
9 comments:
The NDP hasn't the dosh for an election campaign right now. Singh still has to differentiate his party from the Libs, and show his own supporters that he fought the good fight and came back with some concessions. But breaking up the marriage? Not a chance.
I'm sure Singh remembers that, when Jack Layton pulled the plug on Paul Martin's government, we got ten years of Stephen Harper, Cap.
Layton's decision smashed the NDP's dream, zoombats.
Is anyone ready for an election ? The NDP is cash down, The Liberals have been there for a long time and the non engaged are starting to get bored. The racism , misogyny and all around dishonest nastiness of Pierre's Pack is turning potential supporters off . The Bloc is high but has no policies to build support. Voters are uninterested and not ready for the irritation of an election.
No positives for a party foolish enough to force an election now.
I suspect you're right, rumley. No one's in a rush to go to the polls.
Owen, you meant Althia Raj not Althia Rag. That reference could be misconstrued.
RG
Thank you for noticing that, RG. I missed it completely -- and I apologize to Ms. Raj for the error.
It is doubtful Singh will do anything much to force an election and neither will Trudeau. They both know it could result in a Conservative government. Not exactly what the country needs. They'll muddle through. A lot can happen between now and the end of the "marriage" agreement.
If they're wise e.a.f, they won't hand the keys over to Poilievre.
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