The interim Conservative leader, Candice Bergen, on Tuesday came out in swing against a new deal that will see the NDP support the Liberal government until 2025, calling the pact a “desperate” attempt by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “cling to power. “
Speaking to reporters after Trudeau formally announced the agreement on trust and supply, Bergen said the agreement effectively shifts the reins of government to the “socialist” NDP. She warned that it could mean a massive expansion of government and tax increases to pay for billions of dollars in new spending on promised social programs.
Bergen also said a federal government with a more left-leaning leaning could jeopardize some Canadian jobs in the natural resources sector.
Calling on the NDP’s previous opposition to major energy projects such as crude oil pipelines, further expansion of oil sands and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, Bergen said a liberal government backed by the new Democrats would lead to “decimation of Canadian oil and gas.”
Earlier Tuesday, Trudeau sought to reassure voters that the NDP will not have a “veto” over government priorities and that the agreement will focus on areas where the two parties’ political proposals overlap. Bergen responded by saying “NDP is responsible.”
“We are fighting against an NDP liberal majority government right now,” she added. “The NDP and the Liberals met in secret, and they made a back-room deal that will see Justin Trudeau gain the majority power he desperately tried to gain last fall and failed.”
SE: Opposition leader reacts to new NDP liberal agreement
The interim leader of the Conservative party, Candice Bergen, is reacting to the liberal-NDP agreement on trust and supply, saying the parties have an “obligation to be honest and transparent.” 1:19
The Liberal-NDP agreement is not a coalition – no NDP MP will be elevated to cabinet. Trudeau said there will be areas of disagreement and that the two parties are not necessarily expected to lock in all issues to be addressed in parliament.
The agreement will be similar to the one the NDP and the Greens in BC negotiated after the provincial elections in 2017 gave a hung parliament back. The Greens promised stability in return for action on some of its priorities, such as climate change and rent relief.
According to the text of the agreement – Delivering for Canadians Now, A Supply and Confidence Agreement – the two parties say they are entering into a partnership now in “very uncertain and difficult times” to quickly get legislation through the House of Commons and to curb “hyperpartiality.”
The parties say they will jointly implement a form of national dental care program for poor children, adolescents and seniors, pursue “progress towards a universal national drug program”, invest more money in primary health care, tackle the crisis of affordability by building more housing and pursue an aggressive effort against climate change to “further accelerate the path to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”
The two parties also say they will seek higher taxes on banks, introduce about 10 paid sick days a year for federally regulated workers and introduce legislation to ban “crusts” – replacement workers hired when a union employer locks out employees or when employees goes on strike. The parties also said they were determined to make the vote easier by extending the vote in the federal election to three days.
SE: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirms agreement with NDP
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Liberal government has reached an agreement that will see the NDP support the Liberal government to keep it in power until 2025, in return for a commitment by the Liberals to act on the NDP key priorities. 2:04
Bergen said Trudeau secured this deal – which will get the NDP to vote for liberal governments’ confidence-building measures as budgets for three years – because he wants to reach the 10-year mark as prime minister. Trudeau was first elected in 2015 and will have been in office for a decade if the pact lasts until the next scheduled election in October 2025.
“This is nothing more than a Justin Trudeau coup. He is desperately clinging to power. He continues to put his personal pride above the interests of Canadians,” she said.
Bergen said the 82 percent of Canadians who did not vote for the NDP in the last election should be concerned now that some new Democrats’ policies are being prioritized by Ottawa.
“Some liberals have told me that they are very concerned about the economic direction under the Justin Trudeau government,” she said. “I can not imagine how they feel now that they have a Jagmeet Singh-led government at the helm.”
To secure the deal, Trudeau promised the NDP that his government would move forward with some sort of national dental care program.
The NDP’s 2021 election platform called on the federal government to “incorporate universal dental care into Canada’s public health system” and “immediately provide dental care coverage to people who have no private insurance.” The platform was silent on how this program would be implemented. Trudeau said Tuesday that the government will only work this year to expand access to dental care for children under 12 years of age.
Bergen said the Conservatives have no interest in voting for such a program, claiming that most Canadians already have access to dental care through private workplace insurance schemes. She said many provinces already have programs in place to cover the cost of dental care for low-income families.
Conservative MP Gerard Deltell, who often speaks for the party in French on Quebec-related issues, said the NDP-liberal pact would lead to “a more centralized government and one that spends more” – and raised red flags for a more activist government intruding on provincial jurisdiction as health care.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, the frontrunner in the race to replace Erin O’Toole as the party’s permanent leader, was just as sharp in his criticism of the proposed liberal-NDP deal.
“It is clear that they have agreed to a radical and extreme agenda to expand government power by removing the freedoms of the people,” Poilievre said in a social media post. He urged his supporters to “take action” and “help me fight the coalition.”
Poilievre said that if elected, he would try to convince liberal MPs on the back table who may oppose this agreement to put forward a no-confidence motion to overthrow the government before the 2025 trust agreement expires.
Poilievre said that as one of the few Conservative leaders with a seat in the Commons, he is best placed to take the fight against Trudeau and Singh in parliament.
“The news may seem awful, but I’m here today with a message of hope: with a strong Conservative leader who knows how to win the debate and the procedural competitions on the floor in the House of Commons, we can push hard on this. our freedom and the country, “he said.
Poilievre’s main opponent, former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest, said this “coalition” is “further evidence that the Trudeau liberals rule for themselves – not for Canadians.”
“They will not stop at anything to retain power, even if it means buying themselves a majority,” Charest said in a statement. “Canadians deserve adult leadership, not youth political theater.”
The liberal-NDP agreement, which effectively postpones the next election until the middle of the decade, could change the dynamics of conservative leadership.
Some of the participants may have jumped into the race and expected an election campaign in a relatively short time: a minority government usually lasts no more than two years. The next Conservative leader is likely to spend a long time on the opposition benches before challenging the Liberals for power.
But a longer window could also give the new leader more time to get in touch with Canadians ahead of a federal vote. O’Toole had only one year between his leadership victory and a parliamentary election. A post-election report showed that most Canadians did not really know the former RCAF navigator and lawyer as well.
With the fate of the government almost certain for the next three years, it may also be less important for members of the Conservative party to elect a leader who already has a seat in the Commons.