NDP won’t back Conservative non-confidence motion that borrows Singh’s own words

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has made it clear that he will not be supporting the latest non-confidence motion put forth by the Conservatives, despite the fact that it quotes his own criticisms of the Liberal government. Singh dismissed the motion as a ploy by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, stating, “It will probably come as no surprise that I’m not going to play Pierre Poilievre’s games.”

The motion references criticisms that Singh has previously made about the Liberal government, including his statement in a video announcing the termination of the NDP’s governing agreement with the Liberals back in September. In the video, Singh had criticized the Liberals, saying, “The Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people.”

The Conservative motion calls on the House to declare that it agrees with Singh and has lost confidence in the government. If passed, the motion would trigger an election. However, Singh has indicated that he is not eager to rush into an election campaign, emphasizing his desire to see programs like expanded dental care and pharmacare benefit more Canadians.

The dental program is set to expand to millions of Canadians in 2025, and the government is expected to sign pharmacare agreements with the provinces in the spring, which would cover medications for diabetes and contraceptives. These programs were introduced under the NDP’s former governing agreement with the Liberals.

The House of Commons rules allow Opposition parties a certain number of “opposition days,” when their motions take priority over government business. However, no opposition days have been held since early October due to an ongoing privilege debate causing gridlock in the House.

Speaker Greg Fergus intervened on Monday to temporarily break the gridlock and scheduled the four remaining opposition days, which must take place by December 10. This means that the government could potentially face a non-confidence vote as early as Monday.

While two Conservative non-confidence motions were defeated in September, the Bloc Québécois has since pledged to work with other opposition parties to defeat the government. Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet stated that his party would only support non-confidence motions if they were in the best interests of Quebec.