As pharmacare deadline looms, Singh mulls a future without NDP’s deal with Liberals

By The Canadian Press on February 13, 2024.

OTTAWA – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is mulling what it would mean for his party if the supply-and-confidence deal that ties his party to the Liberals should end prematurely.

The NDP signed a political pact with the Liberals in 2022 to support the government on key votes in exchange for progress on shared priorities like pharmacare.

The Liberals agreed to table and pass pharmacare legislation by the end of 2023, but negotiations over its contents stalled and the parties extended the deadline to March 1 in hopes of reaching an agreement.

Singh’s hopes now appear to be fading as he explains what the NDP’s relationship will look like if the deal dies next month.

He says his party will still be open to working with the minority Liberal government on a case-by-case basis on legislation that they agree on.

But he says the NDP would no longer feel obliged to support the government – or to prevent a snap election.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2024.

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