Jagmeet Singh Is Threatening To Pull His Support Of Trudeau & It Could Lead To Another Election
"We absolutely reserve the right to withdraw our support."
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is threatening to stop supporting Justin Trudeau's government and that could lead to another federal election.
At a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, December 12, Singh spoke about the healthcare situation in Canada, especially the "escalating" problem at children's hospitals, according to The Canadian Press.
He said that his party would end its support of the minority Liberal government and withdraw from the supply and confidence agreement that the parties came to earlier in the year.
The Liberal-NDP deal was reached in March 2022 and it ensured that the parties would work together on shared policy objectives and keep Trudeau in power until 2025.
"If we don't see action on healthcare, we absolutely reserve the right to withdraw our support," Singh said on Monday. "We need to see action."
The NDP leader also called for an emergency debate in the House of Commons about the healthcare situation in Canada.
"We are at a breaking point," Singh said.
According to a statement from the prime minister's office when the Liberal-NDP deal was reached, the NDP agreed to support the federal government on confidence matters.
Also, per the agreement, the NDP wouldn't initiate a vote of non-confidence and wouldn't vote for a non-confidence motion during the duration of the deal.
When there is a minority government in Canada, the government could fall in a confidence vote as it determines whether there is support from the other parties.
If the majority of MPs vote that they no longer support the party in power, an election could be triggered, according to the Parliament of Canada.
Votes on certain matters like budgets and throne speeches are automatically considered votes of confidence but opposition MPs can request a vote of confidence as well.
So, it's possible that if Singh pulls out of the agreement, NDP MPs could call for or participate in a confidence vote that could bring down the Trudeau government.
In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, December 12, Trudeau said that "if healthcare continues to be such a crisis point for so many Canadians, an arrangement with the NDP is the least of our worries."