OTTAWA — As MPs prepare to return to the House of Commons next month, the Conservative leader is urging other opposition parties to force an early election this fall.
“Canadians cannot afford another painful, costly, chaotic and corrupt year of Justin Trudeau,” Pierre Poilievre said at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday morning.
“He will not quit; he must be fired.”
Poilievre called for the New Democrats and Bloc Québécois to vote non-confidence in the minority government when Parliament resumes next month.
He also wrote a letter to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, calling on him to pull out of the party’s confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals.
The two parties entered into a deal in 2022, with the NDP agreeing to keep the minority government in power until June 2025 in exchange for movement on key priorities.
New Democrats have used the agreement to push forward initiatives such as dental care and pharmacare.
At the press conference, Poilievre wouldn’t say whether a future Conservative government would maintain those programs, but said his party’s platform will be released once an election is called.
In a statement in response to questions about Poilievre’s letter, NDP House leader Peter Julian accused the Tories of wanting to cut programs and said the party fundamentally disagrees with those plans.
“Leaving the deal is always on the table for Jagmeet Singh,” Julian said.
He added that Poilievre wants to “ensure pharmacare cannot make it to implementation this fall.”
Legislation that sets the groundwork for a future national pharmacare program passed through the House of Commons last spring and is at the committee stage in the Senate.
If the bill becomes law, it would also allow the health minister to negotiate with provinces and territories to implement federal coverage for certain diabetes and contraceptive medications and supplies.
Last week, Singh said he would back out of the agreement if the Liberals introduced back-to-work legislation to end a labour dispute at the country’s two largest rail lines that ground trains to a halt for almost a full day.
The Liberals have instead asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene with binding arbitration. The Conservatives were largely silent about the labour dispute last week.
On Thursday, Poilievre urged Singh to back out of the agreement.
“Singh sold out to workers to sign onto this costly coalition,” Poilievre said Thursday.
“He can huff and puff all he wants, but he supported the inflationary policies that destroyed the wages of working class people.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, when asked about Poilievre’s call for an election at a press conference in Toronto, defended her party’s economic record, saying inflation remains within the Bank of Canada’s target rate.
“I want to conclude by reminding people of the fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of what we have been hearing from the Conservative leader today,” she said.
“The Conservatives, I think, are showing how fundamentally self-centered they are — all they care about is themselves and their party. They are seeing this good news for Canadians, (and) they are seeing it as bad news for themselves.”
The Bloc Québécois did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
