The NDP and its leader, Jagmeet Singh, have little interest in either Canadian opinion or the best interests of Canadians and their families. This is indicated by the fact that despite poll after poll showing that Canadians want an election now, Singh ignores the public’s opinion and fails to call the government to account by supporting a non-confidence vote. This is also evident by months of support afforded Trudeau and the Liberal Government by Singh’s continuation of the NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement, even though Singh supposedly ended that Agreement in September of 2024.
Clearly, neither the Liberals nor the NDP want an election. In the case of the Liberals, they simply want to hold on to power for as long as possible. In Singh’s case, having power and influence over the government only partly explains his motive. The real reason is more personal: Singh is eager to see his MP pension vest on 25 February 2025 when he will have completed six years of “service” in Parliament. This requires Trudeau’s government to remain until at least that date. In short, although Singh is personally wealthy, he does not want to lose more millions of dollars from a federal pension plan. A delayed election also means adding more pensionable time to his pension. It is apparent that this entitlement has not been overlooked by Singh in his calculations to support the Liberals. In effect, Singh is holding Canadians hostage for the purpose of his own self aggrandisement and financial benefit.
Singh the Wild Card
Prior to the prorogation of Parliament, Singh had signaled his dissatisfaction with the Trudeau government and his intention to support a non-confidence vote. Of course, in the wake of Trudeau’s resignation, Singh now has an opportunity to be courted by a new Liberal leader in hope of postponing a non-confidence vote on the basis that the Liberal Government is now under “new management”— a new management in which Singh could have enough confidence. This would allow the Liberals to remain in power. After all, the new leader will not be Trudeau and it is easy for Singh to justify renewed support on the basis that he had lost confidence in Trudeau’s leadership, but the new leader deserves a chance. Moreover, the pending supposed tariff war with the United States will give Singh and the Liberals an excuse to postpone an election due to the need to fight the “evil” Donald Trump. This is an excuse that certainly will be used by both the Carney and Freeland campaigns as they make their respective cases for the Liberal leadership.
Backroom Deals in the Making
Although the Liberal leadership question will not be decided until Sunday, March 9, 2025, it would be naive and foolish to think that backroom negotiations between Liberal and NDP operatives are not already taking place. No matter who the new Liberal leader is, the Party wants to put off an election for as long as possible. Similarly, the NDP is at the height of its power and influence, a height not likely to be regained anytime soon once the Canadian electorate has voted. In the current negotiations Mr. Singh will undoubtedly demand a very high price from the Liberals for renewing his support. This support could very well continue to September 2026, as the constitution provides that an election may take place every five years even though the Canada Elections Act currently provides an election every four years, that is by October 2025. The NDP-Liberal coalition can easily amend the Canada Elections Act to commit to a five-year election cycle, resulting in the postponement of the election to September 2026.
The Trainwreck that is the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is like a runaway train, racing rapidly down the track, with its locomotive pulling a trail of damaged baggage cars behind it. The Liberal train will stop momentarily on March 9, 2025, to take on a new engineer-leader, and possibly Mr. Singh as the co-engineer to fill a cabinet position, as well as some other NDP brakemen. The train, however, will then leave the station and rapidly regain speed carrying the same odious damaged baggage. Nothing will have changed, except a postponed election date. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has recognized this reality in an open letter to Mark Carney asking whether Carney will ban members of the current Trudeau cabinet from sitting in his [Carney’s] cabinet. That is, he is asking Carney whether the same ministers will remain in place to pursue the same Liberal policies. Carney has not responded to Poilievre’s letter.
It is readily apparent that Singh is the necessary hinge which the Liberals require in order to remain in power and the Canadian electorate has yet to receive the courtesy of a reply. Canada is in jeopardy and its people are being ignored.