NDP 'absolutely' angling to leverage Liberal dip in polls for movement on key policies

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he “absolutely” feels he has the leverage to angle for action on his party’s policy priorities, thanks to the Liberals’ recent drop in the polls.

“We've always wanted to use our power to get results for Canadians to make Ottawa work for people,” Singh told reporters in B.C. on Thursday. “That's why we were able to get things like dental care, and we're going to continue to push on that.”

“But yes, we're going to push for things outside of the agreement,” he added.

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Since March 2022, the New Democrats have been locked in a confidence-and-supply agreement, in which the NDP have agreed to prop up the Liberal minority until June 2025 — just ahead of the fixed election date in October of that year — in exchange for policy action on a suite of progressive issues.

Now, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appearing to take a dip in support after a summer spent trying to refocus his government, Singh says he’ll be taking this opportunity to pressure his partners to act on policy areas that are outside of the existing agreement.

“The number one thing we're going to push for … (is) housing, building more housing rapidly, housing that's affordable, housing that people can afford to rent or to buy,” Singh said Thursday.

There are housing commitments stitched into the original deal, including the completed one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit, which Singh now wants to see re-offered. But other line items, such as increasing efforts to launch the Housing Accelerator Fund, remain works in progress.

In the time since the two parties entered into this arrangement, Singh has managed to secure progress on some policies not already baked into the deal, most notably a boost to the GST rebate.

Meanwhile, polling numbers from Nanos Research have shown the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals since February, opening up political speculation that Trudeau is looking to stave off a federal campaign as long as possible, in the hopes of a turnaround. Keeping the NDP happy and on-side with the confidence-and-supply arrangement is central to avoiding an early election.

Kathleen Monk, a former NDP strategist and director of communications to the late Jack Layton, said in an interview with CTVNews.ca the NDP has always considered the deal to be the “policy floor, not the ceiling,” and that it’s a starting point with no limit to what the party could push for.

“Ultimately right now, where the leveraging, and the ‘taking advantage’ part of the arrangement is coming into force is that nobody wants this country to be thrust into an unnecessary election — frankly an unnecessary and expensive election,” Monk said.

She added that considering the severity of the affordability and housing crises right now, Canadians want to see politicians working for them, not risking an election.

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Monk said nearly 18 months into the confidence-and-supply agreement, both parties have shown they’re willing to work together on policies beyond what was included in the original deal, but what she really wants to see is that those initiatives are targeted to the Canadians most in need.

“There are ways the New Democrats, and frankly all parties, can make things challenging for the governing Liberals,” she said. “It doesn’t mean they’re going to withdraw their support for the deal, because the focus has to be on getting things done for Canadians.”

On Thursday, Singh also said he’d like to see the government get back into the housing game itself.

“We need to unlock the power of the federal government,” he said. “Our government has the land, power, and the resources to build homes that are affordable, and we need to get doing that.”

According to Monk, if the NDP can get that to happen, “it would be significant.”

Beyond housing, several key pledges in the parliamentary pact are outstanding. While not all have time-specific deadlines, such as moving forward with “just-transition” legislation, there are five specific commitments that the two sides have agreed need to be acted on before the end of this year, including expanding dental care to teens and seniors.

With files from CTVNews.ca Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello