Canada’s government under threat as Trudeau coalition partner exits

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s critical coalition partner has torn up a deal to support his Liberal government, throwing Canada into new political uncertainty and raising the chance of a snap election.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-leaning New Democratic party, said in a social media post on Wednesday that he had ended a 2022 deal with Trudeau to prop up the minority Liberal party. 

“Today I notified the PM that I have ripped up the supply and confidence agreement,” he said on X, using the term for co-operation in a parliamentary coalition.

The NDP leader’s announcement means Trudeau can no longer automatically command a majority in Canada’s 338-member parliament, leaving it vulnerable to a vote of no confidence that could end the Liberals’ nine years of power in Ottawa.

Trudeau sought to brush aside the threat on Wednesday.

“An election will come in the coming year, hopefully not until next fall, because in the meantime, we’re going to deliver for Canadians,” he told reporters.

While the NDP’s 24 members will in future decide on a vote-by-vote basis whether to support the Liberals, the move does not automatically trigger a snap election or a vote of no confidence.

However, it will deepen doubts over the future of Trudeau, who has faced calls to end his reign as Liberal leader just as his party gears up for a federal election that must be held by October 2025. The Liberals have ruled Canada since 2015.

Trudeau’s popularity has plummeted in recent months amid a cost of living crisis triggered by skyrocketing housing and widespread inflation. On Wednesday the Bank of Canada cut interest rates for the third time since June.

Singh described the coming election as “a battle for the middle class” and warned that Trudeau was poised to lose to the Conservative party and its leader Pierre Poilievre, who has opened a 17-point polling lead.

While Singh criticised Trudeau, he also warned voters about a Conservative government.

“The Liberals have let people down, they don’t deserve another chance,” he said. “But there is an even bigger battle ahead. The threat of the Pierre Poilievre and Conservatives cuts.”

Canada’s federal parliament in Ottawa is divided between four parties, with the Liberals holding 154 seats, the Conservatives on 119 and the Bloc Québécois, the third-largest party, on 32. The NDP’s 24 seats make it the fourth party.

The NDP has used the arrangement to push its main priorities, such as a national dental care plan, while a bill to lower drug costs has passed the House of Commons and is being reviewed in the Senate.

Trudeau said after Singh’s announcement that he hoped the “NDP stays focused on how we can deliver for Canadians, as we have over the past years, rather than focusing on politics”.

Poilievre, who wrote to Singh last week urging him to pull out of the coalition, on Wednesday described the NDP leader’s announcement as a “media stunt”.