After two years, an agreement between the federal Liberals and NDP has come to an end.
This means the minority Liberals will have to survive any confidence vote.
Thursday morning, Alberta’s only federal Liberal minister told media, they’re not worried about triggering an early election.
“I think they need more runway before an election frankly. We’re not focused on an election,” said Randy Boissonnault, the federal employment minister.
Boissonnault says he’s confident his boss and his party will survive the loss of support from the NDP.
The federal NDP broke up with Trudeau’s liberals Wednesday. On Thursday in Edmonton, Boissonault said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh buckled under pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Pollievre. In response to those claims, Singh said he wants Canadians to focus on the legislation their party got managed to help get passed while still supporting Trudeau.
“We were able to get some important things done: dental care, pharmacare. But it’s also clear that Justin Trudeau and the Liberals were unwilling to stop big corporations from ripping off Canadians,” said Singh.
Boissonault faces his own battle. His riding of Edmonton-Centre is shaping up to be a difficult fight for the incumbent with former Edmonton Public School Board president Trisha Estabrooks running for the NDP.
CityNews reached out Estabrooks for a comment on the agreement with the Liberals ending, and what’s sure to be a contested parliament seat. Estabrooks however, was unable to speak to media Thursday.
On the provincial end, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is not buying Singh’s explanation, telling CityNews, “the NDP should focus on working to roll back the coalition’s destructive policies like the consumer carbon tax and inflation-inducing war on Canadian energy rather than on media stunts about how they will now start holding the Trudeau Liberals accountable after supporting them in running roughshod over the economy and constitution for the last several years.”