NDP ISSUES DEMANDS TO TRUDEAU
OTTAWA
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday faced the first obstacles in launching his new minority government when the NDP demanded quick action on two priorities in exchange for its support on progressive policies.
New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh challenged Trudeau to act immediately on universal coverage for prescription drugs, and insisted the prime minister drop an appeal against a court decision ordering compensation for Indigenous children harmed by federal welfare policies.
“Our first step is to put out our challenge and we are going to build public pressure on this,” Singh told reporters after meeting with his caucus in Ottawa.
“A lot of Canadians wanted to see this government work with other parties. They need to work with other parties, and we are putting out some clear conditions,” he said.
Trudeau emerged from last week’s election with more seats than any other party, but 13 short of being able to govern alone. The NDP holds 24 seats in the 338-member House of Commons.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Singh said he spoke to Trudeau only once right after the Oct. 21 election and had not talked to him since.
Asked whether the prime minister should reach out to him, Singh replied: “I think so.”
During the campaign, Trudeau also pledged to create a national prescription drug plan if re-elected, but he provided few details, saying he would work with the provinces and northern territories to implement the changes.
The Liberal platform promised a $6-billion increase to provincial health transfers over the next five years to help pay for system improvements including pharmacare.
Singh said that’s just not good enough.
“What Mr. Trudeau is proposing right now is not universal, publicly delivered pharmacare,” said Singh, calling a universal prescription drug plan a dealbreaker.
An advisory panel on pharmacare established by the Liberals during the last Parliament recommended a universal system with a national list of drugs that would be paid for by the public purse. Trudeau promised to work toward it but put no timeline on full implementation.
The panel estimated full pharmacare would cost at least $15 billion a year. Singh’s platform estimated $11 billion by 2023-24.
Singh is also demanding that the government drop an appeal to a human rights tribunal’s order to pay $40,000 in compensation to every Indigenous child who was wrongly placed in foster care since 2007, as well as to their parents or grandparents.
Trudeau has said he does not oppose the idea of compensation but that more time is needed for consultation.
The hearing for a judicial review of the tribunal’s ruling is scheduled for late November.
“We know that if Mr. Trudeau wants to put in place anything national that’s progressive, he’s going to need our help,” Singh said.
Much like Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, Singh will face a leadership review at the next party convention. But unlike Scheer, the knives have not been sharpened against Singh despite the party’s electoral losses.
Several of the 12 defeated New Democrat MPs attended Wednesday’s meeting, but none laid the blame for their defeat at the feet of their leader. Tracey Ramsey, who lost her southwestern Ontario seat to the Conservatives, said she thinks she lost because people in her region wanted to get rid of Trudeau and felt voting Conservative was the best way to do that.
Conversely, Quebec MP Pierre-Luc Dusseault, who lost to the Liberals, said “fear of the Conservatives” in Quebec hurt his fortunes.
Matt Dubé, one of the young McGill University students who found themselves unexpectedly elected during the NDP’s surge in Quebec in 2011, said it maybe took Singh too long to introduce himself to Canadians. But he thinks Singh did that in the campaign and now deserves a second chance to see what he can do in another election.
Dubé did, however, say he was disappointed that Singh chose to dance and celebrate on election night, when a dozen NDP MPs went down to defeat.
THEY NEED TO WORK WITH
OTHER PARTIES, AND WE ARE
PUTTING OUT SOME CLEAR
CONDITIONS. — JAGMEET SINGH