‘Unshackled’ NDP MPs in Montreal for caucus retreat days after breakup with Liberals

MONTREAL — New Democrats are huddling in Montreal to strategize a new path forward ahead of the fall parliamentary session — one that doesn’t include the Liberals at their hips and ideally makes them a credible alternative to the Conservatives at the next election.

The three-day caucus retreat kicked off Tuesday, less than a week after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced the end of the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals.

It’s also taking place in one of the two cities where the NDP is hoping to win a byelection on Sept. 16.

Singh said on Sept. 4 that he had “ripped up” the agreement with the governing Liberals, and tried to position himself as the progressive alternative to Pierre Poilievre. He argued the Liberals are too weak to fight for Canadians and not able to stop the Conservatives.

But now New Democrats have to figure out how they plan to navigate a traditional minority Parliament again, and what it will take for them to vote in favour of the government’s agenda.

Singh says the NDP will consider each vote independently but didn’t offer any “red lines” for his party.

“We’ll be discussing more of our specific vision for what the next (parliamentary) session is going to look like, and we’ll have a press conference tomorrow where we get into some more details on that,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

The NDP launched a new ad on the first day of the retreat centred on a message of hope — hope that it can make history by forming government at the federal level for the first time.

The ad features former leader Jack Layton as well as Wab Kinew, the premier of Manitoba and a rising star for the party.

Kathleen Monk, a former NDP strategist and director of communications for Layton, said New Democrats are likely walking into the retreat feeling “energized.”

“There’s opportunity for New Democrats,” Monk said. “I think being unshackled (from) this agreement, helps put them on a path where Canadians can actually consider them for government.”

NDP MP Heather McPherson said she and her colleagues will be focused on pinning down the party’s priorities ahead of the fall parliamentary session after spending a summer talking to Canadians.

“Clear priorities for us are going to be around health care, around housing, Indigenous justice, the climate crisis, the genocide in Gaza,” said McPherson, who also serves as the party’s foreign affairs critic.

“But I think the big one for us is going to be strategizing on how we bring forward that case to Canadians, that we can beat the Conservatives.”

Monk said the NDP’s decision to pull out of the deal coincides with a number of key votes they’re hoping to win. That includes federal byelections in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona and in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in Montreal, as well as upcoming provincial elections in B.C., Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

The move also comes ahead of the return to the House of Commons on Sept. 16.

“It’s critical that in the lead-up to the next election, whenever that is … that there is that differentiation,” Monk said about the NDP’s effort to distance itself from the Liberal government.

The Conservatives have dismissed the NDP decision to leave the deal as a “stunt” and have been taunting Singh to trigger an election.

It’s widely expected the Tories will bring forward a non-confidence vote in the fall, which would trigger an election if the majority of MPs vote in favour of it.

“We’re going to take every vote as it comes,” McPherson said. “We’re not going to allow Pierre Poilievre to use his shenanigans and ill behaviour within the House of Commons to push us to do anything.”

While New Democrats are rallying behind the leader and the decision to leave the supply-and-confidence agreement, there appears to have some hesitations about it.

When asked whether any of her colleagues thought it was a bad idea to leave the deal with the Liberals, McPherson did not directly respond.

“Well … it’s caucus. We have lots of robust conversations and lots of thoughts around what is the best thing for our communities,” she said.

On Tuesday, MP Alexandre Boulerice said the decision was unanimous.

Just moments later, MP Carol Hughes said she was “torn” about it but said she’s confident the party made the right decision.

Monk said the NDP need to come out of the retreat with an agenda and a clear message that dispels the “myth” that Conservatives will help Canadians get ahead, while presenting the NDP as a viable alternative to the Liberals.

“Jagmeet Singh hasn’t been punching through in the way that he needs to if we’re going to actually make gains in the next election,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press