A confidence and supply agreement reached between the Liberals and NDP three months ago changed the dynamic of the House of Commons, even in a parliamentary sitting that will mainly be remembered for the axing of another Conservative leader, and the further polarizing of Canadian politics by a convoy against pandemic restrictions.
The agreement, however, means MPs head off for the summer barbecue and parade circuit without having to prepare for a known or potential federal election in the fall for the first time in four years.
The NDP and Liberals describe the agreement as a success to date. For the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois, the agreement has been a recipe in frustration, shutting them out of many House negotiations because the Liberals no longer had to wonder which opposition party would be their dance partner.
Under the agreement announced March 22, the NDP offered to support the government on most confidence votes and the Liberals agreed to co-operate on some NDP priorities.
In the months since, the NDP did in fact vote with the government on confidence bills, including the budget, but also on a number of non-confidence matters. NDP MPs helped the government limit debate on some bills and get others, including controversial changes to the Broadcasting Act, through the House and onto the Senate.
The Liberals did move on some NDP priorities including by putting a national dental-care program in the federal budget, and some housing programs.
1:23 NDP question Liberals over support for Canadians amid rising inflation
NDP question Liberals over support for Canadians amid rising inflation – Jun 15, 2022
Government House leader Mark Holland downplayed the effect of the agreement on Wednesday, saying the main impact is “providing Parliament stability.”
“So little is actually in the supply and confidence agreement,” he said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday he felt the agreement worked as he had hoped, and is confident it will continue to deliver for NDP priorities over the coming months.
But he warned that if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not deliver, he would be prepared to pull NDP support for the Liberal minority government. He said he intends to push the government hard to deliver more to help to Canadians struggling under the weight of near-record inflation.
“We have made it very clear we need to see additional supports as well,” he said. “The agreement lays out a floor but it doesn’t set a ceiling of what we can ask for or what we can fight for.”
Singh and Trudeau met several times as is required by the agreement, and co-operation and information-sharing between the parties is said to have been good.
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, the parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, said from his viewpoint the agreement energized Trudeau and the Liberals, who could move on their priorities without the constant threat of being defeated.
“I think it’s put a bit of a spring in his step,” said Oliphant in an interview. “I see him really engaged in the last couple of months, where there was a couple of months where I wasn’t sure he was as engaged.”
Oliphant said the agreement had the opposite effect on the Conservatives, setting them “adrift.”
“What that does is it takes the wind out of the sails of the Conservatives, because they know that they’re not able to defeat us easily,” he said. “And I think that they don’t know what to do with that.”
5:30 ‘We maintain the ability as an opposition party to oppose’: Singh on federal budget
‘We maintain the ability as an opposition party to oppose’: Singh on federal budget – Apr 10, 2022
Opposition House leader John Brassard had somewhat similar sentiments in a scrum with reporters on Tuesday.
“It definitely, there’s no question about it in my mind, changed the entire dynamics for our particular leadership team,” he said.
The Conservatives characterize the confidence and supply agreement as a coalition government of the NDP and Liberals, effectively giving the Liberals the majority they failed to win in the 2021 election.
It also meant the end of any discussions the Liberals had with the Conservatives, said Brassard.
“The official Opposition was effectively being shut out,” he said. “We were the last to hear about many of the things that were happening within the House of Commons because the Liberals would just simply go to the NDP and say, ‘This is what we want to do,’ and get their agreement.”
There were occasional signs of co-operation among more than one party, with all MPs voting in favour of legislation to ensure seniors receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement and COVID-19 benefits didn’t have money clawed back.
Amid it all the Conservatives were engaged in internal strife, as their third leadership race in six years laid bare some deep divisions within the party.
Erin O’Toole was voted out as leader by caucus in early February, just as a convoy of Canadians blockaded the streets around Parliament Hill and multiple border crossings, demanding everything from the end to all COVID-19 restrictions to the ouster of Trudeau.
The convoy has coloured much of the political landscape throughout 2022. Ongoing inquiries and committee hearings on the government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act are adding to the tension.
4:50 In-depth look at the agreement between federal Liberals and NDP
In-depth look at the agreement between federal Liberals and NDP – Mar 23, 2022
The government is being accused of holding back information that could explain its justification for the Emergencies Act. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is in hot water for saying that police asked for the act to be invoked, which has been contradicted both by police and his own colleague, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair.
Movement on Liberal bills has been slow. Only four major bills passed between Christmas and Wednesday, and one of those – the fall economic statement – took so long some Canadians had to wait weeks for tax refunds that couldn’t be processed until some new tax credits became official.
Both the budget bill and new legislation that’s been sped through in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling on using extreme intoxication as a criminal defence are expected to pass before the summer break begins.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
