(Ottawa) The Liberal Party of Canada will remain in power until June 2025 thanks to the support of the New Democratic Party. The two political parties have reached an agreement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed on Tuesday.
Posted at 9:21 a.m.
Updated at 10:42 a.m.
“This agreement will not call into question the fundamental values of each of our parties, he declared at a press conference. We will continue to have a healthy debate and disagree on certain points, just as we will continue to work with the other parties in the House of Commons. »
In exchange for the support of the New Democrats to support their minority government, the Liberals notably undertake to “move towards the creation of a universal drug plan” and the creation of dental insurance.
NDP MPs will support the next four budgets and support the government in other votes of confidence, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. New Democrats pledge not to propose a vote of no confidence. In the event of an unexpected question of confidence, the NDP will have to inform the government of its intentions before making them public.
The agreement will allow the Liberals to “deliver the goods”, according to the Prime Minister, but it is not a coalition government where NDP MPs could have sat on the cabinet.
“There has never really been any reflection or discussion on the idea of a partnership or a more formal coalition, it’s quite simply an agreement on which we will be able to work together constructively in Parliament there. where we already have alignment, and to disagree where there is no alignment so that we can work with other parties when we want, “said Mr. Trudeau.
“It’s something that will be able to provide stability, collaboration, predictability to Canadians in times of uncertainty and unpredictability,” he added, referring to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. .
Singh welcomes deal
As the Prime Minister spoke, New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Jagmeet Singh confirmed in a statement that a “support and trust” agreement called Getting results now for Canadians had been sealed between the two formations. The leader had presented her to his caucus in a meeting held late Monday evening.
“Voters have given Parliament a clear mandate and do not want to experience unnecessary delays at this important time. […] It is in the very nature of politics to offer conflicting visions, but no one is taking advantage of the growing polarization and parliamentary dysfunction that are preventing these results from being achieved for Canadians,” he said.
In a polished photo posted on Twitter, Chief Singh followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, Tommy Douglas and Jack Layton, bragging himself to have achieved “the greatest expansion of health care in a generation, with dental care and the ass[urance]. -drugs,” arguing that the NDP “will always use its power to help people.”
Conservatives and Bloc Québécois fulminate
In the conservative camp, the interim leader Candice Bergen castigated “the secret agreement”.
“It’s nothing more than a way for Justin Trudeau to retain power,” she criticized. “Make no mistake: the NDP is now in control”, which will result in “the annihilation of the oil and gas and liquefied natural gas industry”, she argued, saying she could guess the sentiment of “despair” that this pact will create in the west of the country.
In turn at the microphone, his deputy Gérard Deltell accused Prime Minister Trudeau of having given “carte blanche to the NDP”.
The aspiring party leader Pierre Poilievre – who has just seen his potential accession to the post of prime minister which he covets postponed for a few years – reacted promptly on Monday evening, posting a video on social networks denouncing this marriage of convenience between the “socialists” of the NDP and the Liberal Party.
In the Bloc camp, leader Yves-François Blanchet believes that the NDP has “confirmed[e] what he was already doing” for two years, which is to support the Liberals of Justin Trudeau. And he has also just “admitted his own uselessness” by concluding an agreement which “will not last”, he predicted at a press briefing in a room of Parliament.
He criticized the “naivety” of Jagmeet Singh, whom the Canadian Prime Minister did not even deign to invite to the press conference he had called for the morning.
The Bloc leader argued that if the Liberal leader had sought to conclude such an alliance, it was because he never accepted his minority status in Parliament. He therefore “created a false majority government with the NDP,” mocked Mr. Blanchet.