NDP's Jagmeet Singh rules out coalition government with Liberals after next election

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is ruling out the possibility of forming a coalition government with the Liberals if no party wins a clear majority after the next federal election.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is ruling out the possibility of forming a coalition government with the Liberals if no party wins a clear majority after the next federal election.

“That's off the table,” Singh said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, even though the two parties have been working closely together.

“That's not something that we're focused on. We're focused on getting enough done in this Parliament and then running to win.”

The two parties signed a deal in March 2022 in which the NDP agreed to support the minority Liberals on key votes in Parliament in exchange for action on NDP policy priorities.

The collaboration has so far led to the introduction of a national dental-care program, one-time rental supplements for low-income tenants, a temporary doubling of the GST rebate, legislation banning replacement workers and investments toward a for-Indigenous-by-Indigenous housing strategy.

The parties agreed to keep their agreement in place until 2025, with a federal election slated to take place by October of that year.

Singh said the agreement gave him the chance to see the Liberals up close, and to see how much power the federal government has to make life better for Canadians.