Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government inched further towards uncertainty after key ally and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh said his party would introduce a motion to topple the government next year.
Singh made the announcement just minutes before Trudeau shuffled his Cabinet.
In his letter shared on social media, Singh said he is committed to voting ‘non-confidence’ in the government after the House returns on January 27.
Singh’s announcement is a shift from his party’s previous stance when the political outfit had given confidence to the government.
He wrote in the letter: “The NDP will vote to bring this government down and give Canadians a chance to vote for a government who will work for them. No matter who is leading the Liberal Party, this government’s time is up.”
“I called for Justin Trudeau to resign,” he said.
Singh’s stance clearly shows that the chances for Trudeau’s government to remain in power remain slim.
Canada is scheduled to vote in the next election on or before October.
With the Liberals remaining in power with minority support now, there is the possibility that Canada will witness early polls if the Parliament votes in favour of the no-confidence motion.
All the opposition parties in the country are now demanding the ouster of the Trudeau-led government.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has repeatedly called for an election as soon as possible, while Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said a confidence vote must happen as soon as possible to trigger an early 2025 election, reported BBC.
Singh’s announcement came just days after Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s deputy Prime Minister and finance minister, resigned.
She said she quit the position over disagreements with Trudeau on how to respond to incoming US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs.
She announced her resignation in a letter to Trudeau on Monday, in which she said the two have been “at odds about the best path forward for Canada”, and pointed to the “grave challenge” posed by Trump’s policy of “aggressive economic nationalism”, reported BBC.
She announced her resignation hours before she was supposed to provide an annual fiscal government update in the Parliament.
The move may push Trudeau’s already shaky minority government to the brink, BBC reported, highlighting the challenges the government is facing.
