The federal New Democrats plan to make pharmacare a central issue in the next election if the Liberals do not meet the bar the opposition party has set for legislation to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
The federal New Democrats plan to make pharmacare a central issue in the next election if the Liberals do not meet the bar the opposition party has set for legislation to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
That NDP party leadership isn't already planning a campaign with cost of living issues as the focus unfortunately sums up today's NDP: looking for headlines instead of votes.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. Also if they pull a non-confidence vote and pass it, we'll nearly certainly get a CPC government. I for one would be terribly mad at such an event and will assign it straight on Jagmeet. He can and should press the libs on pharmacare but even a compromise would be better than no pharmacare for at least another 4 years. Along with all the other damage pipsqueak is gonna do.
I really don't know what Layton was thinking. No matter how bad Martin was--and the policies he put through, especially as Finance minister, are a part of why we're in the trouble we're in now--if he (Layton) really believed in what was best for Canada, letting Harper anywhere near the levers of power was asking for trouble.
Singh is in a similar position: support a non-confidence vote and we end up with Poillievre, which, as bad as Trudeau might be, would be so much worse.
Maybe Layton was thinking Harper would be constrained to a minority in perpetuity because the Conservatives pretty odious? I think he underestimated the control Harper had over his caucus and his (Harper's) ability to sell the CPC brand.
I doubt they're looking to break from the deal. This is more them taking a more assertive stance now that they know the Liberals have a ton to lose, since that gives them more leverage. I fully expect the Liberals will propose a new version that meets the NDPs criteria.
If they don't, that's basically Trudeau's fuckup, because they have the votes, everyone savvy knows this has very few policy downsides, and the NDP is open to whatever gradual rollout they need to make it practical.