NDP member support declining for Jagmeet Singh raises questions about his future
How good is 81 per cent?
It's a solid "A minus" at nearby McMaster University.
But when it comes to leading a federal party, it means about one in five members aren’t so sure you should keep your job.
This weekend, 81 per cent of NDP delegates voted against forcing a leadership contest. This gave Jagmeet Singh the lowest level of support for an NDP leader since the 2016 convention, when more than half the delegates voted to remove Thomas Mulcair.
“To me it was a bit of a surprise,” said Karl Bélanger, president of Traxxion Strategies. “I was expecting (Singh) to be more around the 90 per cent mark.”
Bélanger was a top advisor to Mulcair, and doesn’t think this leadership review will lead to calls for Singh to resign.
“But it’s clearly a signal that he probably does have one last shot,” Bélanger said.
That shot is expected to play out sometime before the fall of 2025, as Singh will need to produce a significant increase to the 25 federal seats his party has now.
“New Democrats need to elect more NDP members next election,” said Kathleen Monk, a former director of communications to late NDP leader Jack Layton. “And also need to make gains in regions of the country that we are currently locked out of, like the Atlantic and Saskatchewan.”
Since the 2011 “Orange Wave” swept across Quebec --- propelling the Layton-led NDP to 103 seats and Official Opposition status --- the New Democrats have seen their hopes to form government decline.
At this convention in Hamilton, there was a video message from Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew, fresh off his win over Progressive Conservative Heather Stephenson.B.C. Premier David Eby and Ontario Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles also delivered speeches.
As the party hoped to send a message that NDP leaders can challenge and defeat the Conservatives, Singh has so far been unable to replicate the party’s provincial success at a federal level.
The NDP leader says 81 per cent is still a strong mandate, but understands there’s room for improvement.
“The message I received Is very typical, something I'm proud of, as a New Democrat, which is always to demand more,” Singh said, promising to use his supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals as leverage to do just that.
GROWING FRUSTRATION OVER PERCEIVED STALLED PROGRESS IN SUPPLY AND CONFIDENCE AGREEMENT
NDP delegates are concerned the Liberals are doing some last-minute cramming, and may not be ready to pass pharmacare legislation before the deals deadline at the end of December.
There is appetite within the party to pressure the Liberals and draw a hard line.
“That’s the deal, right? The Liberals said they would do A, B, and C in exchange for our support,” said Robin Steudel, a delegate who travelled from Yukon to attend the convention. “The support has been given and so now they need to pony up.”
Steudel believes, like many other delegates, the NDP must push for more concessions.
“You write that deal, you come up with that deal, and then you need to keep pushing. The work doesn’t really stop on the day that the deal gets signed,” the northern delegate said.
The NDP leader confessed his own frustrations to members during the convention.
“When we made this choice to strike this agreement, to work together, we knew there would be critics,” said Singh in a pre-recorded video played at the convention, ahead of his speech.
“We knew that people would be upset that we’re working together with Primer Minister Trudeau and frankly some days I’m upset because I don’t agree with everything the prime minister is doing”.
While it’s the first federal agreement of its kind between the two parties, it’s not the first time the NDP has worked alongside a Liberal prime minister.
In 1972, then-NDP leader David Lewis propped up Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s minority government in exchange for progressive priorities, including the creation of Petro Canada as a Crown corporation.
But when Lewis voted against the 1974 budget triggering an election, it was Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals who were rewarded with a majority government.
It’s a concern that some NDP members have with the current deal with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
“You’re not getting the credit for some of these policies and programs,” Bélanger said.
They’re also on a timeline that most New Democrats find too slow.
“Singh and the NDP team are doing some challenging stuff, pushing for laws, policies and new programs that are historic but also hard,” said Monk.
“It is easy for folks to critique, but in many ways, Singh has already exceeded what Jack Layton attempted. New Democrats are actually forcing the governing party to enact programs that in the past.”
“Liberals couldn't even utter, like, GST tax credit and the anti-scab bill,” Monk added.
Monk said she expects Singh and his team will continue to face internal party push-back over the deal.
On Saturday, delegates supported an emergency resolution designed to increase pressure on the Liberals around a national prescription drug program.
“The NDP will publicly declare that continued confidence and supply is contingent on government legislation that clearly commits to a universal, comprehensive and entirely public pharmacare program,” the document read.
The convention votes are non-binding, therefore Singh and his caucus still get final say on what policy proposals are adopted.
It's a delicate line for the leader to walk, grassroots members fear, as recent polls show the NDP and Liberals being left in the Conservatives’ rear view mirror.
Correction
This story has been updated to reflect Canadian grade letter scores.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
Tornadoes collapse buildings and level homes in Nebraska and Iowa
Tornadoes wreaked havoc Friday in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes, many around Omaha, Neb.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
From New York to Arizona: Inside the head-spinning week of Trump's legal drama
The first criminal prosecution of a former president began in earnest with opening statements and testimony in a lower Manhattan courtroom. But the action quickly spread to involve more than half a dozen cases in four states and the nation's capital. Twice during the week, lawyers for Trump were simultaneously appearing in different courtrooms.
Local Spotlight
DonAir force takes over at Oilers playoff games
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fergus, Ont. man feels nickel-and-dimed for $0.05 property tax bill
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”