CONSERVATIVE MINORITY

On the eve of the French-language debate, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh reiterated his pledge not to support a Conservative government, a stance that stems from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s past comments against same-sex marriage that were made in Parliament in 2005.

But in the unlikely scenario that Singh backtracks from this position, Conservative strategist Rachel Curran, former director of policy to Stephen Harper, says that the NDP and Conservatives could end up aligning on issues related to affordability. “Both parties are concerned with affordability and have campaigned on affordability, even though they are positioning the issues differently. If the Conservatives are in a position to implement tax reductions on lower-income groups, this is something that won’t be difficult for the NDP to support,” Curran said.

Tim Powers, vice-president of Summa Strategies, says that the NDP and Conservatives could also align on housing reform. “The Conservatives will want to change the mortgage stress test, perhaps diminish it. Doing that may be appealing to all parties, including the NDP.”

The NDP has not clearly outlined where they stand on the stress tests, introduced by the Trudeau government, but have said that they would like to re-introduce 30-year term mortgages, which would essentially lower monthly costs.

Powers points out that during the Conservative minority government of Stephen Harper, the NDP and the Liberals supported a volunteer firefighters tax credit brought about by former finance minister Jim Flaherty. “Most of where these two parties can perhaps reach a compromise will be issues around tax reform,” he said.