The NDP/Liberal agreement is an act of hope and courage, and we need more

April 1, 2022

We are emerging from two years of the pandemic emotionally bruised and anxious, but also with a deeper understanding of the inescapable realities and existential threats to public health, social and racial injustice, economic inequality, climate disaster and war that have changed our world irrevocably.

If we are to meet this moment of simultaneous crises, we must lead with a willingness to overcome differences in pursuit of the greater good. Our future depends on collective optimism. The cynicism of politics as usual is no longer an option, and perhaps that’s a good thing.

On Parliament Hill, a place where big secrets are rarely kept, many of us were surprised by news that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had negotiated and signed a supply and confidence agreement to provide stability to the current minority government, and in the words of Jagmeet Singh “to deliver the biggest expansion of Canadian health care in a generation. Dental Care and Pharmacare.”

The agreement, motivated by a desire to change the channel on an often volatile and toxic parliament, sparked after the Prime Minister made a congratulatory call to Singh upon the birth of his first child, and negotiated during the convoy occupation of Ottawa and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is a rare glimmer of hope in an increasingly perilous world. It is also an example of a new kind of Canadian politics that is worth fostering in the years to come.  

Some New Democrat and Liberal partisans might worry that what defines their parties distinct identities will be eroded by this deal – but by focusing on what unites us (support for national Pharmacare is close to 90%, dentalcare 86%) rather than the partisan lines that divide we have a chance at lasting, generational change. Collaborating on widely supported policies is not a compromise of party, it is the common space where we meet to make the change we desperately need based on shared values. It’s a place we need to meet more in our politics if we’re ever going to overcome years of upheaval and public trauma.

Catalyzing moments like the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc people’s discovery of the graves of Indigenous children at the former Kamloops residential school. The murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter movement that woke so many white people up to racial injustices and the violence of colonization that Black and Indigenous people and people of colour live, see, and know every day. 

Wildfires, heat domes and floods shocked many into finally understanding that we can no longer treat this precious planet as an infinite resource to be extracted and an infinite dumping ground for toxic pollution.  The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s threat of nuclear war made many of us see how the unthinkable can quickly become reality if tyrannical leaders accumulate power in this world marred by economic inequality and dysfunctional political systems.

And the pandemic itself made us understand how vulnerable and utterly interdependent we are on each other. None of us live in isolation, and despite the disappointment and frustration that some were unwilling to even wear a mask in an indoor public space to protect others, we saw most of us will make great sacrifices to keep each other safe.

As difficult as these last two years have been, in many ways the pandemic has made many of us see just how great our challenges are, and how bereft of solutions our current politics has been. And now that we see, we must have the courage to make this moment a catalyst for change. If we want to build a better future for this country and this planet, if we want to rise to the unprecedented challenges we face and overcome, we need to set down the swords for a while and build something great, together.

The good news is, we can. Jagmeet Singh said the day the agreement was signed that New Democrats will always use their power to make life better for people. And so should we all. Because we are the systems we uphold, we have the power to change them and replace them, and there has never been more reason to act than now.