Getting Wobbly

Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) withdrew from the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party, with commentators speculating that the weakened Canadian leader may be forced to resign and hold early elections, the BBC reported.

In a video posted online, NDP party leader Jagmeet Singh said he was “tearing up” the coalition agreement that had been set to run until October 2025 and which had kept the Liberal party in power.

Without the NDP’s support, Trudeau and his party now lack the votes needed to pass legislation in the House of Commons and will be vulnerable to confidence votes. Analysts say that as a result, Canada could see early elections. Before the NDP withdrew its support, elections were to be held before October 2025.

The party withdrew after a dispute over the government’s move to impose binding arbitration to end the major strikes affecting Canada’s two largest railways.

Singh had said that the Liberal party had “let people down” and didn’t “deserve another chance from Canadians.”

Many Canadians are fed up with the Liberal Party, saying it has done little to alleviate the housing crisis and rising inflation. National opinion surveys have shown the Liberals lagging in recent polls. If elections were to be held today, the Liberal party would lose by about 18 points to Pierre Poilievre and his opposition Conservative Party.

The Liberals continue to lose elections and seats all over the country. For example, the party lost a long-held “safe seat” in Montreal to a candidate from Bloc Québécois in a special election Monday, Politico reported.

Nevertheless, Trudeau, who first took office in 2015, said he has no plan to resign.