One of the seven NDP candidates to win his riding in this week’s federal election says his party will submit a proposal to Parliament to retain official party status, despite the loss of 17 seats, including that of its leader.
Don Davies, who secured his Vancouver Kingsway seat with 37.2 percent of the vote, told CTV’s Power Play the criteria for official party status is “fluid and arbitrary.”
“Everything’s negotiable in politics,” Davies said.
The NDP entered the federal election campaign with 24 seats, but saw its caucus shrink to seven members in the April 28 election. A party must earn at least 12 seats to maintain or achieve official party status under the Parliament of Canada Act.
Official party status allows a party’s caucus to ask questions during question period more frequently, sit on parliamentary committees, and obtain money for party research offices, which is typically proportional to the number of seats held.
Davies argued that having NDP representation within Parliament, including receiving question period time and seats at committee tables, is “critical” in holding the government to account.
“I look forward to meeting with my colleagues and coming out with a proposal that we can bring to Parliament whenever it starts sitting,” Davies said. “We’ve ruled nothing out at this time.”
When asked by Power Play host Vassy Kapelos if official party status should be earned, Davies said it “depends on the moment.”
“One thing, as I’ve said, is Liberals don’t have a majority, they’re going to need the support of other parties,” he added. “And when that happens, when you don’t have a majority, they’re compelled to sit down with other parties and start negotiating. So, you know, this is something I think is important.”
Aside from losing official party status the NDP also lost its leader. Jagmeet Singh lost his Burnaby Central seat in the vote, placing third behind the Liberal and Conservative candidates in the B.C. riding. Singh garnered 18.1 percent of the popular vote behind the Conservatives’ James Yan at 38.7 percent and the Liberals’ Wade Chang at 42.1 percent.
Singh has since announced he will step down as party leader but will stay on until a new leader is chosen.
Davies said an interim leader will be appointed, after which the party will initiate the scheduling and organization of a leadership contest. He didn’t rule out the possibility of running for the leadership himself saying that it “remains to be seen” if he will throw his hat into the ring.
He noted that although the leader does not have to be a member of caucus, it would be beneficial if he or she were.
“We’ve got a lot of great colleagues in our caucus who would be wonderful in that position,” he said. “We'll see what happens in the days ahead.”
