Singh makes plea for Canadians to ensure NDP has influence in next Parliament

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is making a plea to Canadians today to give his party an influential role in Parliament and not reward either the Conservatives or Liberals with a majority government where they hold all the power.

As the third week of the federal election campaign draws to a close Singh is in Ottawa to speak at the Broadbent Institute’s annual conference.

The institute is a social democratic think tank formed by former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent and its annual Progress Summit is falling this year in the middle of the election.

Singh’s speech reflects the pivot he began earlier this week away from insisting he is running to be prime minister of the next government toward a message asking to give the NDP enough seats to ensure neither the Liberals or Conservatives wield all the power.

Without using the term “minority government” in his speech, Singh alludes to the idea when he says the NDP is needed to ensure progressive policies are on the table to protect workers and stand up for public health care.

The speech follows a in video message posted Thursday night, in which Singh says the NDP would not support a Conservative government, but has not ruled out supporting a Liberal minority — so long as the NDP could once again advance its priorities.

“It’s not that the Liberals don’t talk a good game,” he says. “They do. I admit it, they talk a great game. And some may genuinely believe in the things we fight for. But they only deliver when New Democrats have had the power to make them deliver.”

Singh says he will fight for what “makes us Canadian” when the House of Commons returns after the election, starting with the federal budget.

Priorities for the NDP include pushing for more health care funding to hire additional family doctors and nurses, a cap on prices for grocery staples, national rent control and a crackdown on offshore tax havens among other measures.

He says national programs on dental care and pharmacare only moved forward under the Liberals because of the NDP.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press