Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party is using its agreement with the Liberals as leverage to push for its priorities in the upcoming federal budget, set to be released on March 28.
Singh said he expects the upcoming budget will have money to expand dental care coverage to teens, seniors, and people living with a disability, as part of the supply and confidence agreement the Liberals and New Democrats signed back in March 2022.
Additionally, Singh says he wants to see the Liberals extend the six-month GST rebate introduced last fall, which temporarily doubled the amount people received.
“That’s something that we’re going to use our power on,” Singh said in an interview with The Canadian Press published on March 14.
“It’s not in our agreement, but the agreement gives us the leverage to push for things like that.”
The NDP leader said his main budget priority is increasing cost-of-living initiatives, such as federal funding of school lunches for children.
“There’s some signals the Liberals were open to it, but we want to see if we can continue to apply pressure to make it happen,” he said.
Singh also said he’s not currently looking to end the supply and confidence agreement. Singh previously said back in December 2022 that if the Liberals failed to address Canada’s healthcare crisis, the NDP would “absolutely reserve the right to withdraw our support.”
In the agreement, the NDP have said they will support the Liberal’s minority government in key votes—including the federal budget—until 2025. In return, the Liberals will support key NDP priorities such as national dental care and pharmacare.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, has said the new federal budget will be focused on fiscal restraint, as rising inflation has led the Bank of Canada to hike interest rates to the highest levels in 15 years.
“One of my principal responsibilities is not to pour fuel on the flames of inflation,” Freeland said during a press conference on March 9. “Fiscal responsibility is really important and I’m very conscious we’re putting this budget together at a time of meaningful fiscal constraint.”
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
