Poilievre urges Singh to trigger October vote

Tory leader calls NDP boss a 'sell-out' to Liberals in letter

- TONDA MACCHARLES

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to pull out of his party's supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals and vote non-confidence in the government in September.

The New Democrats should drop support for the Liberal government and trigger an immediate October election, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a letter Thursday to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

Two weeks before Parliament resumes, Poilievre slammed Singh in the letter, mocking him as a “sellout” to the Liberal government for forming a “costly coalition to keep Justin Trudeau in power.”

The NDP has not formed a coalition with the Liberals, but since 2022 has agreed to support the government in a “supply and confidence agreement” that guaranteed progress on a number of policies — dental care, pharmacare and federal anti-scab legislation — in exchange for votes in Parliament on key budgetary items and not bringing down the minority Parliament.

Poilievre framed the Liberal-NDP agreement as a failure ahead of another looming electoral test for all parties that takes place on the same day Parliament resumes.

Two byelections on Sept. 16 will offer an indication of just how competitive the Conservatives are in Liberal- and NDP-held ridings, or conversely, how election-ready the Liberals and NDP are in ridings where they should be able to hold their own.