New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh said that he hasn’t asked for anything to continue to support the Liberals, comments that came just ahead of the Senate passing a law establishing a national pharmacare program.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he’s not negotiating for concessions to keep the Liberal government in power, while the Conservatives backed away from support for a Bloc Québécois motion to boost seniors benefits, showcasing the precarious nature of political alliances in a time of minority government.
Mr. Singh said Thursday that he hasn’t asked for anything to continue to support the Liberals, comments that came just ahead of the Senate passing a law establishing a national pharmacare program, a centrepiece element of the previous supply-and-confidence deal between the two parties.
“We’re not looking for a new deal. We tore up the agreement. There will be no new deal. We’re not negotiating a new deal,” he said. “There is nothing of that nature going on.”
His deputy director of communications Nina Amrov further clarified to The Globe and Mail that at no level are party staff or those working for Mr. Singh in talks with the government to strike a new deal for support in exchange for policy concessions from the Liberals.
The arrangement saw the NDP vote alongside the minority Liberals in exchange for action on their key priorities. They pulled out of the arrangement in September, saying support for the Liberals would now be on a case-by-case basis and no new deal would be drawn up.
The move injected volatility into the previously stable minority Parliament; the Conservatives have already tried to defeat it twice, but the Bloc and NDP voted with the government.
Previous speculation that the NDP would not vote against the government until pharmacare passed prompted a question to Mr. Singh Thursday on whether he’d now seek to defeat the Liberals. He said the NDP still wants to see the required federal-provincial agreements to implement pharmacare signed.
“While the bill being passed is a big deal, we also want to see people get the benefit,” he said.
The Bloc, however, does have some asks. The party, which has more seats than the NDP, has said if the Liberals don’t pass two specific items into law by Oct. 29, its MPs will be prepared to vote non-confidence. Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said this week that the deadline remains in place.
Last week, the Bloc had the support of the NDP and Conservatives in passing a motion in support of one of its demands – a boost of 10 per cent to Old Age Security payments for those aged 65 to 74. The Liberal government implemented an increase in July, 2022, but limited it to seniors aged 75 and up, and voted against the Bloc motion.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated the additional expansion could cost as much as $16-billion over five years. The proposal, in the form of Bill C-319, has yet to pass through the House of Commons.
Conservatives voted in favour of the bill at second reading, and in favour of the Bloc motion, leading to a question to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre from reporters in Toronto Thursday as to whether that means if he’s elected, his party would go through with the increase.
“We’re of the view that seniors need more purchasing power, and that’s what we signalled with that vote,” he said. “There are other ways to do it, though.”
Suggestions he offered included removing the consumer price on carbon and lowering income taxes, and promised the party’s platform would reflect an effort to ensure seniors’ pensions and retirement incomes could go further.
How soon any party might need to present a platform to voters is anyone’s guess.
Right now, the House of Commons remains frozen, with debate into its ninth day on an opposition-backed motion linked to the Liberals’ refusal to provide documents connected to a spending scandal.
The Liberals could move a motion to force an end to the debate, but it remains unclear whether any other party would support them, at least right now.
Mr. Blanchet said Wednesday the Liberals know what he wants in exchange for any help. If the government wants support, they’ll have to go back to their old relationship with the NDP, he said, likening the parties to a couple in a fight with one partner exiled to the couch.
“They might have to welcome this crew back in the bedroom, but one of the two will be tied to the bed, and I don’t know which one. I’m not sure if I were a Liberal, I’d want to go back into that situation.”
The House of Commons breaks on Friday for a Thanksgiving recess, and is set to resume on Oct. 21.