Canada’s left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) has pulled the plug on a two-and-a-half-year-old deal with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals that kept his minority government in power.
In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he had informed the prime minister of his decision, calling the Liberals “too weak and too selfish” to fight for Canadians.
The deal, called a “supply and confidence agreement,” saw the NDP support the Liberals through confidence votes.
The announcement does not automatically mean a federal election will happen anytime soon, but it does mean that Canadians will be able to vote before the October 2025 election.
Mr Singh and Mr Trudeau first reached an agreement in March 2022, with the Liberals pledging to support the left-wing NDP on several key party priorities in Parliament.
The agreement differed from a coalition, where parties share power.
Instead, the Liberals, who had failed to win a majority in the last two elections, governed as a minority, although they were assured that the NDP would support them in confidence votes.
It was the first formal bipartisan agreement at the federal level.
When Singh announced he would tear up the deal, he said the Liberals had “let people down” and “didn’t deserve a second chance from Canadians.”
In recent years, Canadian voters have become increasingly frustrated with rising inflation and the affordable housing crisis.
Trudeau’s Liberals have been trailing in the polls for months, with polls showing the party trailing the opposition Conservatives by about 18 points.
