Poilievre Asks Singh to Drop Liberal Support and Trigger Fall Election

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, June 19, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has increased his pressure on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to pull out of his supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals keeping the minority government in power.

In an undated letter to Singh posted on social media on Aug. 29, Poilievre asks the NDP to vote non-confidence in the government as early as this September to “trigger a carbon tax election” in October 2024.

The House of Commons has been on break since June and will reconvene for the fall session in mid-September.

The Liberals and the NDP have been in a supply and confidence agreement since March 2022, in which the governing Liberals implement policies favoured by the NDP to receive backing for crucial votes in the House. The agreement is in place until June 2025, whereas the next election is scheduled for October 2025.

One of the pillars of the agreement involves “making life more affordable for people,” something Poilievre contends cannot be attained with high inflation and more government spending.

“Not only have the NDP Liberals not made things more affordable. Everything costs much more,” wrote Poilievre, noting the high price of food and the increasing use of food banks.

The Epoch Times reached to Singh and the NDP for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

Singh has been taking to social media to criticize the high cost of living and has blamed the prime minister.

“Justin Trudeau told Canadians things would be better, instead, they’ve gotten worse,” he wrote in mid-August. “Families are losing their homes, landlords are making record profits and rents have doubled.”

Singh’s messaging to reduce the cost of living has also targeted big grocery store chains, saying they’re being run by “greedy grocery CEOs.”

The NDP leader has threatened several times to pull out of the agreement with the Liberals if conditions weren’t met. The latest involved the tabling of pharmacare legislation, which the Liberals fulfilled with Bill C-64.

Government House Leader Karina Gould, speaking on the margins of the Liberal cabinet retreat in Halifax on Aug. 27, said she’s “fairly confident” the agreement with the NDP will hold until June.

“We have some things that are still left in the [agreement] to move forward on,” she said. “Of course, we’re going to keep pushing in that direction.”

Poilievre’s request comes as the Tories have polled high for an extended period, putting them in majority territory. Conservatives also made a breakthrough with a surprise win in the Liberal stronghold of Toronto-St.Paul’s in the June byelection.

For the upcoming byelections on Sept. 16, Tories will try this time to rattle the NDP stronghold of Elmwood-Transcona in Winnipeg. The seat was made vacant after NDP MP Daniel Blaikie left federal politics to serve in the Manitoba NDP government.

Blaikie got re-elected in 2021 with 49.7 percent of the votes, with the Tory candidate trailing at 28.1 percent. The Liberals finished third with 14.7 percent of the votes.