Singh admits he delayed election to block Conservative majority

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh claimed one of the main reasons he propped up the Liberal government and delayed the election was because he “couldn’t stomach” a Conservative majority.

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh claimed one of the main reasons he propped up the Liberal government and delayed the election was because he “couldn’t stomach” a Conservative majority.

During a press conference in Toronto on Friday, just days before the Monday election, Singh revealed that although for a few months, the NDP was projected to surpass the Liberals and thus become the official opposition, he chose to support the Liberals to prevent a Conservative government.

“I could not stomach the idea of Pierre, Poilievre’s conservatives forming a majority government, I knew that was gonna be bad,” Singh said. “I knew that was gonna be bad because of their cuts, because of their division, because the things they wanted, and I did not want to let that happen.”

He said he also continued to prop up the Liberals despite the majority of Canadians wanting an election and for Trudeau to be ousted because he wanted Canadians to see the benefits of pharmacare and dental care before casting a ballot.

Reporters asked him if his devotion to preventing Conservatives from getting into power and ensuring the Liberals do get in was the new purpose of his party, but Singh “rejected the framing” of the question.

“I think what Poilievre and the Conservatives are proposing are incredibly dangerous. He wants to cut and slash the things that people need. He wants to divide our country in ways that I think are really, really troublesome,” Singh said. “He wants to slash and cut CBC when we need independent public journalism…he wants to do a lot of dangerous things.”

Singh denied that he delayed the election to get his pension and said Poilievre will get a bigger pension than him but doesn’t believe people should have pensions.

The Conservative platform includes a commitment to maintaining the eligibility age for the Canadian Pension Plan, increasing tax-free savings for seniors by $10,000 and extending the age at which seniors can withdraw from the Registered Retirement Savings Plans.

Singh said Canadians need to vote for him to ensure cuts aren’t made to healthcare and other services. He noted that Liberal leader Mark Carney vowed to implement operating cost cuts, including healthcare transfers to provinces and individuals.

“On February 16, in an interview, he said it, and then his platform confirms $28 billion in cuts, and then on top of that, just a couple days ago, on Monday, he said he would exceed those cuts,” Singh said. “The only way he achieves his plan and achieves the cuts that he’s laid out is to massively cut services, and those services include health care and a whole bunch of other services.”

Singh said to stop those cuts Canadians have to vote NDP as they are “the only ones” dedicated to defending Canada’s public universal health care and fighting back against “those cuts.”

The national polling aggregate 338 Canada projects the NDP will hold anywhere between two and 15 seats after the election, potentially losing its official party status. To hold official party status in the House of Commons a registered party needs 12 seats.

One reporter asked him why Singh had been dancing and partying while his party’s support crumbles around him. Singh said in tough times one can “either laugh or cry.”

“I always choose that you got to have joy in the struggle, like I really believe in joy in the struggle,” he said. “It’s also what we’re fighting for…we’re fighting for something we really believe in. Our party is based on a movement of lifting up people. We’re not in it for the power only. We’re in it to find power so that we can use it to make people’s lives better.”