By Staff
September 4th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
The following was republished from the Hill Times; a news service that writes for those involved in what the federal government does. Written by
The upcoming fall sitting marks the beginning of the final stretch of this Parliament, and with a slate of bills still winding their way through the pipeline and the Conservative official opposition rattling the cages for an early election call, Government House Leader Karina Gould says she’ll be looking to the “other reasonable parties” to find “dance partners” to move legislation ahead.
“We are going to—as the Liberal team—demonstrate that, despite the fact the Conservatives want to muck everything up, and don’t want Canadians to get the programs that they receive because of the legislation that we’ve passed, like dental care, like childcare, like pharmacare … we’re going to keep working with the other reasonable parties in the House,” Gould (Burlington, Ont.) told The Hill Times by phone on Aug. 29.
Government House Leader and Burlington MP Karina Gould
“As Liberals, what we feel is that we’re in Ottawa to fight for Canadians. If that means that we have to go head-to-head with the Conservatives, that’s what it means. But we’re there to fight for Canadians, unlike Conservatives who think they’re there to fight Liberals.”
The House of Commons returns on Sept. 16, followed by the Senate on Sept. 17.
There are a little more than 11 sitting weeks on the books this fall, and 25 overall before Parliament rises next June. The next federal election is set to take place no later than Oct. 20, 2025—or Oct. 27, if elections law changes proposed in Bill C-65 (which is awaiting House committee study) are passed in time—but could happen earlier should the government lose a confidence vote in this minority Parliament.
Key to sustaining the House’s backing is the supply-and-confidence agreement penned between Liberals and the NDP back in 2022. But, in the lead up to the House’s return, Conservatives have been ramping up pressure on the NDP to break the deal. Last week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre (Carleton, Ont.) called on New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois to stop supporting the Liberal government and force an early election by calling for a vote of non-confidence, penning a letter directly to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh (Burnaby South, B.C.) as part of his appeal.
NDP national director Anne McGrath has said her party still hopes to get more out of the agreement with the Liberals, including expansion of the proposed pharmacare program, and improvements to employment insurance. But NDP House Leader Peter Julian (New Westminster–Burnaby, B.C.) has also warned that an early exit from the deal is “always on the table.”
At the recent Liberal cabinet retreat in Halifax, Gould told reporters the government is “fairly confident” the pact will hold.
Speaking to The Hill Times, Gould noted that the agreement the NDP signed stipulates it will last until Parliament rises in June 2025, and includes a commitment to support four federal budgets.
“The NDP has agreed to support four budgets, there’s a fourth one coming up [next spring], so I’m operating under that premise,” she said.
While Gould isn’t part of the supply-and-confidence agreement oversight group—which instead brings together the respective leaders’ chiefs of staff, along with others from the Prime Minister’s Office and NDP brain trust—she said she feels she’s “had a great working relationship with” Julian, and spoke with equal confidence of relations between the two parties to date.
Gould was on maternity leave through the last parliamentary sitting, with now-Labour and Seniors Minister Steven MacKinnon (Gatineau, Que.) serving in her place from January up until July of this year. But watching from afar—“following it too closely, for someone who was on maternity leave”—Gould said it was a “very productive” sitting “in terms of delivering legislation through the House of Commons.”
“Fighting for Canadians” Now that is a belly laugh.
The Bloc though will continue to prop up this failed government at the expense of all provinces outside of Quebec. The result the Bloc and Conservatives will further decimate Liberal support in Quebec save a few hard-core ridings in my racist home Province where the NDP’s support (led by Rolex & pension Singh) will fall even further and will be further decimated in all but a few urban centres that they will battle Liberals for.
Karina Gould on CBC dismissed NDP Jagmeet Singh’s announcement today that he had ripped up the supply-and-confidence agreement because the Liberals were “too weak. too selfish and too beholding to corporate interests to fight for people” as a politically motivated decision. She unabashedly assured us that the Liberal government is the only party that puts Canadians first & would continue to govern that way. Unfortunately (for her) the horrible lipsynch problem with video belied the fact that she has become a simple puppet for Justin Trudeau, the most incompetent, scandal-ridden & moralizing Prime Minister in our history. “Ready to rumble” indeed!
“We are going to—as the Liberal team—demonstrate that, despite the fact the Conservatives want to muck everything up, and don’t want Canadians to get the programs that they receive because of the legislation that we’ve passed, like dental care, like childcare, like pharmacare”
This article must have been written prior to the NDP stepping away from the agreement they signed with the Liberals. Something I never thought would happen. What other way would the NDP hold some power in Parliament.
This” holy alliance” allowed for a pharmacare plan that provided free diabetes medication and birth control pills. While this is great for some people the majority of medications do not fall under this plan.
The “free dental plan for seniors” again is great for some patients but not for most and includes many co-payments.
Personally I would think that all children should be part of any dental plan. Good dental health should start with the young.
The Universal Childcare Program is proving to be untenable with the daycare providers that signed up walking away.
If I was a member of the Liberal party I would not be touting these” successes”. because they would never have happened without the NDP coalition.
if I had voted for the Liberal Party I would have felt duped into doing what the NDP demanded so that Justin Trudeau could maintain power.
It will be interesting to see how long the Liberals will survive a” Motion of no Confidence”.
Oops, Jagmeet has other plans and he must be watching Kamala because he is parroting some of her vocab. Too little too late Karina, and now the Liberal Party has lost the window of opportunity to dump Trudeau.
My take, now that the confidence agreement has been ripped to shreds, we can expect a spring or summer 2025 election. Sorry Doug, but you may have to shelve your early election plans.
They are way down in the polls so one has to wonder which Canadians believe that crap about “Fighting for Canadians”.A history of out-of-control spending is hardly fighting.Wasn’t she responsible for ArriveCAN and. Months of chaos in getting a passport 2 years ago.