Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is asking NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to pull out of the deal he has with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to force an election this fall.
In a letter to his opposition counterpart made public Thursday, Poilievre calls on Singh to pull out of the supply-and-confidence deal helping keep the Liberal minority government in power.
The Official Opposition leader’s suggestion is to side with his party and “vote non-confidence in the government this September,” when the House of Commons resumes, “to trigger a carbon tax election” in October of this year.
This is expected to be the focus of a press conference Poilievre has scheduled outside of West Block at 10 a.m. ET.
“Canadians can’t afford or even endure another year of this costly coalition. No one voted for you to keep Trudeau in power. You do not have a mandate to drag out his government another year,” Poilievre writes.
The two-party pact signed in 2022 is designed to keep the Trudeau government in power until the end of the current Parliament, in exchange for progress on longstanding NDP priorities.
From the outset the Conservatives have characterized it as a coalition, though it is not.
Earlier this week, Government House Leader Karina Gould told reporters that she was “fairly confident” the agreement will hold through to the mutually-agreed-upon expiry date in June 2025.
In the letter, Poilievre accuses Singh of keeping the deal going so that he can qualify for his MP pension.
There are a number of MPs that need to keep their seats until next October in order to qualify for a pension.
However, because Singh was first elected in a byelection in February 2019, he’s poised to qualify for his in six months, well before the deal with the Liberals is set to expire.
“When you agreed to join the costly coalition to keep Justin Trudeau in power, you promised it would ‘make people’s lives more affordable.’ Yet by your own admission, your coalition has been a disaster for working Canadians,” Poilievre writes, pointing to recent comments Singh made about the cost of groceries.
CTV News has asked Singh’s office for comment.
This is a developing story, check back for updates