Singh 'not satisfied' with confidence-and-supply agreement
Singh 'not satisfied' with confidence-and-supply agreement
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he’s “not satisfied” with his party’s confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals — signed a year ago this week — because it’s shown him he could do a better job running the country than the current government.
“And so it's led me to not be satisfied with the position I'm in,” he said. “I want to be the prime minister, but I'm proud of the work we've done.”
The deal sees the NDP support the Liberals and keep them in power until 2025 in exchange for progress on certain policy priorities.
In an interview with CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, airing Sunday, Singh said he’s “really, really proud” of the commitments he’s secured through his agreement with the Liberals, citing the first phase of a national dental care program as an example.
“That's something I'm really proud of, but I'm not satisfied with it,” he said. “Maybe that's a better way to put it.”
“I'm not satisfied, because I don't want to just push government,” he added. “I want to be the one making the decisions for the interests of people, and having been in a position where I can actually influence decisions, I've seen how much better we would do if we were the ones calling the shots.”
Meanwhile the confidence-and-supply deal has some key line items that are expected to be in this Tuesday’s federal budget, such as expanding the dental care program. But to avoid worsening inflation, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has pointed to plans for fiscal restraint in the budget, while promising targeted measures to help struggling Canadians.
Singh said while he agrees targeted spending is what’s needed to help people weather the high cost of living, he also thinks the dental care program, and expanding the GST rebate, are the ways to do that.
Since the confidence-and-supply agreement was struck, Singh has yet to name a deal breaker. The NDP sided with the Liberals in invoking the Emergencies Act to dismantle the trucker protests last year and have declined to pull their support for the government amid ongoing calls to hold a public inquiry into foreign interference.
"We always have the right, if the government breaks any conditions of the agreement, if they don't follow through with what we forced them to agree to, we have then the power or the option of withdrawing our support," Singh told his caucus in January.
With files from CTVNews.ca’s Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
Meta is planning to run a test that will block news for some Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram in response to the Liberal government's controversial online news bill.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada
Gatineau police say officers responded to a call from staff at l’école l'Oiseau Bleu on Nelligan Street just after 10 a.m. Friday about a camera found in the washroom.
Researchers at Carleton University's Department of Electronics in Ottawa created a ground-breaking testing device to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through biomolecular activities in a person’s saliva.
The wedding of Jordan's crown prince to the scion of a prominent Saudi family began on Thursday in a palace celebration that drew massive crowds and a mood of excitement around the kingdom, while presenting the young Hashemite royal as a new player on the global stage.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's refusal to heed the House of Commons' call for him to step down as 'tone-deaf.'
Despite the 'munchies' being a common cannabis effect, frequent users are leaner and less likely to develop diabetes than people who don't use the drug. According to a new study, cannabis use in teenage years may alter how the body's fat cells work.
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson formally apologized in the legislature Thursday to former residents of the Manitoba Developmental Centre, one of the country's last large institutional facilities for people with intellectual disabilities.
Gatineau police say officers responded to a call from staff at l’école l'Oiseau Bleu on Nelligan Street just after 10 a.m. Friday about a camera found in the washroom.
The family of an engaged couple who were shot dead following a dispute with their landlord in Stoney Creek over the weekend released a statement of their loved ones, remembering them as 'two beautiful souls.'
Air Canada reported a technical issue with its flight communications system on Thursday, causing delays across the country for the second time in a week.
Nearly four years after Jeffrey Epstein's suicide, the AP has obtained more than 4,000 pages of documents related to his death from the federal Bureau of Prisons under the Freedom of Information Act.
A mysterious patch of fluorescent green water that appeared in Venice's famed Grand Canal Sunday was caused by a chemical commonly used in underwater construction to help identify leaks, environmental authorities say.
A pilot and passenger were able to walk away after the small, single-engine plane they were in crashed through trees and between backyard garages on Detroit's east side.
German prosecutors said Thursday that they will examine objects that were found in a search in Portugal last week for clues regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, but can't yet say whether they are linked to the British girl who went missing in 2007.
A gay pride flag rose the Wisconsin Capitol on Thursday in a sign of support for the LGBTQ+ community as it weathers heightened attacks from conservatives across the country.
Two Mississippi police officers were shot and one died Thursday during a standoff that started after a man took a woman hostage in a home, law enforcement agencies said.
Bill Blair is blaming Canadian Security Intelligence Service director David Vigneault for the fact he didn't receive a memo warning about the alleged targeting of Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family by a Chinese diplomat.
Two prominent gun-control groups are urging the Liberal government to proceed without delay in drafting regulations that will flesh out firearm legislation being reviewed by the Senate.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's refusal to heed the House of Commons' call for him to step down as 'tone-deaf.'
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada
Despite the 'munchies' being a common cannabis effect, frequent users are leaner and less likely to develop diabetes than people who don't use the drug. According to a new study, cannabis use in teenage years may alter how the body's fat cells work.
Racial bias built into a common medical test for lung function is likely leading to fewer Black patients getting care for breathing problems, a study published Thursday suggests.
Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country's oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans' hominin ancestors. The find announced Thursday would drag the dawn of Greek archaeology back by as much as a quarter of a million years, although older hominin sites have been discovered elsewhere in Europe. The oldest, in Spain, dates to more than a million years ago.
Actor Armie Hammer will not be charged after a long investigation of a woman's allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 2017, Los Angeles prosecutors said.
Attorneys representing adult entertainers, erotica authors and sex educators on Wednesday asked a judge to put on hold a Utah law requiring porn and other adult websites verify user ages.
Warning of a new threat to global food security, the United Nations said Thursday that Russia is limiting the number of ships allowed to pick up Ukrainian grain at Black Sea ports in its campaign to get Kyiv to open a pipeline for a key ingredient of fertilizer to get to world markets.
Amazon has agreed to pay more than US$30 million to settle two federal lawsuits alleging that the tech giant violated users’ privacy — including that of children — through its Alexa voice assistant and its Ring doorbell cameras.
More than three years after COVID was declared a global pandemic, a new study is looking at how the international health crisis has changed the lifestyle habits of Canadians.
Now a New York company that makes carbon-negative aviation fuel is taking the menu for interplanetary cuisine in a very different direction. Its innovation has put it in the finals of a NASA-sponsored contest to encourage development of next-generation technologies for meeting the food needs of astronauts.
Nikola Jokic got a triple-double in his NBA Finals debut, Canada’s Jamal Murray scored 26 points and the Denver Nuggets had little trouble with the cold-shooting Miami Heat on the way to a 104-93 win in Game 1 on Thursday night.
So, what exactly was that metal-looking object about the size of a bottle cap that was taped to Novak Djokovic's chest at the French Open? The player said it is an incredibly efficient nanotechnology to help him deliver my best on the court, "that's the biggest secret of my career," he said sarcastically.
Lionel Messi arrived two years ago wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with 'Ici C'est Paris' (This Is Paris) -- a favourite cry among Paris Saint-Germain fans -- and to chants of 'Messi! Messi! Messi!'
The U.S. government's auto safety agency plans to require that all new passenger cars and light trucks include potentially life-saving automatic emergency braking and meet stricter safety standards within three years.
