Even if the majority of Canadians want an election so as to put an end to Liberal overspending, corruption, and outright “woke culture” style lawmaking, it simply won’t happen. The reason is not what many think. It’s not about his narcissistic personality, nor personal vanity. It’s not because he wants to go down in history with the rare four term government. It’s not even the idea that he thinks he’s doing a good job. The real reason he will not call an election is because he signed away that right with his supply and confidence agreement with the NDP.
The supply and confidence agreement that was penned between the two parties in 2022 outlined the demands of the fourth place party to be put in place in exchange for their support on confidence votes. It essentially gave this new Liberal/NDP (not a coalition) coalition a majority in the House of Commons. There are many items on the list of demands from the NDP such as a national dental program, a national pharmacare program, a extension of the housing accelerator fund, and electoral reforms such as enhanced mail in voting and a three day election period.
While most Canadians are at least somewhat familiar with the basics of the agreement, I remain convinced that most Canadians simply have not read it. This isn’t surprising as it isn’t easy to find, if you don’t know where to look. I contacted Jagmeet Singh’s office to enquire about viewing the actual written agreement, but received an automated reply that I should contact my local NDP MP. Here’s the thing, with only twenty five seats, most Canadians including myself aren’t represented by the NDP. This turned out to be a dead end, but I didn’t give up and have found the text of the agreement. One sentence took me completely off guard.
To explain this properly, I must first point out that the agreement does not end until Parliament rises in June of 2025, as seen in the clip of the text below. That being said, we must draw our attention to the text highlighted in yellow which reads “and that the Liberal Party commits to govern for the duration of the agreement.”
So there we have it in black and white. Trudeau simply cannot call an election, despite the majority of Canadians wanting one, because he gave up that right in this Liberal/NDP unholy alliance. There is also some mention of collaboration in committees, which explains a whole other set of concerns for Canadians. Simply put, we’re stuck with Trudeau leading the country into yet untold devastation until the next scheduled election, which the Liberals have already pushed farther away once, and may push further away still.
Buckle up Canada, we’re in for a rough ride for awhile yet!