Michael Higgins: Jagmeet Singh can still yank Liberals even further to the left

To be fair to Jagmeet Singh he has parlayed two dozen NDP seats into a political wedge that has forced the Liberals to turn sharp left.

That he gets no credit for it, even from NDP supporters, is probably because he is a tiresome, whining, sanctimonious hypocrite.

Singh’s hypocrisy during his political marriage with the Liberals has been a defining feature of the last two years — attack Justin Trudeau on every occasion, but back him in the House of Commons to ensure the government doesn’t fall.

Will he continue with this two-faced charade? It will surely be tested when the House resumes in a little over a week.

It would be no surprise if the first order of business for Conservatives was to table a no-confidence motion in the government when Parliament returns on Sept. 16.

This would put the ball firmly in Singh’s court.

Listening to Singh over the last few years, one would think the NDP leader would have to vote against the government.

“Justin Trudeau has proven again and again he will always cave to corporate greed. The Liberals have let people down. They don’t deserve another chance from Canadians,” he said Wednesday as he announced he was ripping up the supply-and-confidence agreement that has kept the Liberals in power.

Four months ago, he accused them of cynically “dividing the country.” In June, in Parliament, he asked, “Why is the prime minister letting corporations rip off Canadians when one out of four is living in poverty?”

Singh never seems to waste an opportunity to turn the political marital bed into a verbal pillow fight.

Singh told delegates attending the British Columbia NDP convention last November, “I have seen Trudeau’s government up close. I shouldn’t be mean, but one of our MPs has described working with the Liberals like wrestling eels that are soaked in oil.”

But he also noted, Trudeau “only acts when he is forced to, or when his political future is on the line.”

It is this that Singh is gambling on.

Certainly, Singh blindsided the Liberals on Wednesday with his announcement that he was dissolving their partnership — the one that in 2022 called for “no surprises” between the two parties.

Just over a week ago, Government House Leader Karina Gould said she was “fairly confident” that the agreement would hold through to June 2025.

Surprise!

Singh obviously decided he had nothing more to gain from the agreement, he’d got his dental care plan for low-income Canadians passed and a pharmacare bill introduced. But it appears the Liberals were done doing deals.

However, maybe, just maybe, there is more to be squeezed out of the Liberals if Trudeau fears his job is on the line with an early election call.

So far, Trudeau has been stubborn in his refusal to listen to his own party about a possible change in leadership or direction following the disastrous election loss in Toronto-St Paul’s.

Yet if Trudeau’s only way to stay in power is to court the NDP on each and every vote, who knows what concessions Singh might still wring from the prime minister’s hands.

For Trudeau, every vote now becomes a cliffhanger, not necessarily a no-confidence vote each time, but if the government can’t get its agenda through then what good is it?

The PM could seek out the Bloc Québécois to keep him in power but what would that separatist party demand to keep the crown on Trudeau’s head? Well, anything that was good for Quebec, basically.

Previously, Singh talked tough but, bound by their agreement, sheepishly followed the Liberals lead. Now he can talk tough and act it. But will he?

Of course, Singh must also have his eye on the declining polling numbers for the NDP. According to an aggregate of polls for 338Canada, if an election were held now the NDP would see their number decline by a third — down to 16 seats from 24.

So, things are about to get very messy when Parliament returns. Singh will be gambling on getting more concessions from the Liberals. Trudeau will have to decide whether to call his bluff. The Conservatives will be in full-attack mode. And the Bloc will be alert and hungry on the sidelines.

However, the more things change the more they stay the same.

On Thursday, Singh was still in full-throated hypocrisy mode.

“Justin Trudeau has let Canadians down,” he said at a press conference. “The Trudeau Liberals cannot deliver change, they are too weak and selfish to stop Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives.”

Trudeau didn’t have the “courage and strength” needed, he said. An election was more likely, he added. The NDP would vote on a case-by-case basis, he continued.

But would he bring down the government? He refused to say.

Meet the new Jagmeet Singh, same as the old whinging one.

On Wednesday, Singh did take time out from attacking Trudeau to quote former NDP leader Jack Layton’s wisdom about “love, hope and optimism” being the answer.

But at least Layton knew when to pull his support and scupper the government of Paul Martin.

Does Singh have the same political courage? Strangely, for a man who talks so much, he’s not saying.

National Post