Jagmeet Singh believes that Justin Trudeau is waging a war against working people, and the leader of the New Democratic Party intends to take advantage of the agreement reached with the Liberals to protect them.
Mr. Singh spoke in the morning to his New Democrat caucus, gathered in Ottawa for a three-day retreat to discuss his priorities for the next parliamentary session, which opens on January 30.
In a speech strongly focused on the issues facing ordinary Canadians today, he reminded his colleagues of the great traditional values of the New Democratic Party (NDP), such as unionization and public health care.
“Workers are the backbone of this country and they deserve respect,” said Singh. If you work in this country, you should not be hungry. »
He accused Prime Minister Trudeau of refusing to see the hardships facing Canadian families, including decades-high inflation, rising food prices and lack of access to health care.
“Justin Trudeau is not there for working families and he doesn’t understand how much inflation and greed hurt,” he told his fellow MPs. He is disconnected from what people are going through, and the CEOs and big companies have his ear: they are in his small privileged circle. »
“You can’t even find cold medicine for your children. Right now it looks like a war on workers,” he said.
Privatization of health care
Jagmeet Singh also accused Justin Trudeau of allowing some of the country’s prime ministers to dismantle health insurance by introducing publicly funded but privately delivered health services.
Thus, within the framework of the ongoing negotiations with the provinces on federal health transfers, he is asking the Liberal government to prohibit any privatization of the universal and free system.
Mr. Singh promises that the NDP caucus will fight for workers and their families when the House of Commons resumes on January 30.
He promises that New Democrat MPs will press “every day” for the government to adopt measures to reduce inflation, protect the environment and “fix and expand universal public health care in Canada”.
Support Agreement
The New Democrats reached a “support and confidence agreement” with the Liberals in March 2022, which provides that the NDP will not bring down the minority government in key votes in the Commons until the next general election, scheduled for 2025.
In exchange, the Liberals promised to support certain New Democrat priorities: pharmacare by 2023, a national dental program and support for energy workers who could be affected by environmental policies.
The NDP claimed some victories, after the Liberals introduced cost-of-living policies last fall, including dental subsidies for children under 12 from low-income households, a one-time payment for low-income tenants and the one-time doubling of GST rebates.
Mr. Singh said Wednesday that he intends to use this agreement to advance certain outstanding files during the coming year.
The NDP leader did not take questions from reporters on Wednesday, but is expected to speak to the press on Thursday.
“This NDP caucus is going to fight like hell for workers and families,” he told his colleagues. And then I’m going to run for prime minister. »