Trudeau's Government Faces Potential Collapse as NDP Ends Two-Year Agreement
Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) has terminated its two-and-a-half-year "supply and confidence" agreement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, which had ensured the Liberals' minority government remained in power. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh criticized the Liberals for consistently prioritizing corporate interests over the needs of everyday Canadians, claiming that they had failed to fulfill their commitments and had "let people down." Christopher Sands, Director of the Canada Institute, provides insight on the significance of this decision. He discusses what’s at stake for Trudeau’s government, the potential for a Canadian Federal election vote even ahead of the American election on November 5th, and the potential impact on US Canada relations.
Transcript of Video
Trudeau's Government Faces Potential Collapse as NDP Ends Two-Year Agreement
Justin Trudeau's Liberal government in Canada, elected in 2021, has had a minority of seats in the parliament. What just happened today is that his partner, the New Democratic Party, led by Jagmeet Singh, pulled its support away from the Liberal Party. It wasn't a formal coalition, but the fact that the NDP had been willing to back the liberals, while they had not enough seats to form a majority, was keeping the government in power.
Justin Trudeau's government now no longer can count on the support of the NDP and his government is outnumbered by all of the opposition parties. So what should happen next is a vote, a vote of confidence in the government or a vote on a major budget bill, in which the opposition parties unite and try to bring down the government.
The conservatives have some seats, with the NDP they still fall short of a majority, which means the only way they could bring the government down is with the assistance of the Bloc Quebecois, the separatist party that runs in federal elections in Quebec. That's a very difficult alliance, between a social democratic party, a conservative party, and a Quebec nationalist party.
It may be very tricky for the opposition to get their act together, but if they can, an election could follow in just 28 days, meaning that Canadians could vote even before the Americans have their election on November 5th.
For the United States, in particular for the Biden administration, relations with Justin Trudeau's Liberal government have been very good, increasingly looking like some of the strongest relations that Canada's had with an American administration since the Obama administration.
Going into an election in which the US will make a very fateful choice, now, Canada-US relations will also be in the mix, and it's very possible that the next Canadian government, or even the next American government, will not be so inclined to work together as Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden.
Guest
Christopher Sands
Christopher Sands is Director of the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, the largest policy research program on Canada outside Canada and the leading source of scholarship on US-Canadian relations in Washington, DC. Dr. Sands previously directed applied policy research programs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Hudson Institute and has published extensively over a career of more than 30 years in Washington think tanks.
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The mission of the Wilson Center's Canada Institute is to raise the level of knowledge of Canada in the United States, particularly within the Washington, DC policy community. Research projects, initiatives, podcasts, and publications cover contemporary Canada, US-Canadian relations, North American political economy, and Canada's global role as it intersects with US national interests. Read more
