Q&A: The NDP and Liberals have a confidence and supply agreement. So what is it?

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This article was published 21/03/2022 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – The Liberals and the NDP have a penned a deal that would keep the minority government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in power until 2025 and move ahead on some mutually agreeable policies. It’s called a confidence and supply agreement.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is a confidence and supply agreement?

There are two things that can topple a minority government: confidence votes and budget (supply) votes. The confidence and supply agreement is basically a promise by the NDP not to oppose the Liberals in those key moments as a way to keep them in power.

In exchange, the Liberals adjust their legislative agenda to make room for some NDP priorities.

How is it different from a coalition?

A coalition is a much more formal partnership. If the parties had opted for a coalition, New Democrat MPs would likely have seats at the cabinet table, and may be expected to align on legislation — even if they are not confidence votes.

“We will remain an independent party and the opposition party, with the ability to hold this government to account, and to oppose the government where we see necessary,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

With a confidence and supply agreement, the NDP and Liberals keep some of their autonomy, and the NDP will still serve an opposition role, said Karl Bélanger, president of Traxxion Stratégies and former interim national director of the NDP.

Politically, the New Democrats can distance themselves from Liberal policies they don’t agree with and make decisions according to their own priorities, as long as it doesn’t topple the government, he said.

How will it work?

The parties have agreed to a list of priorities to move ahead on, including a dental-care program for low-income Canadians, national pharmacare, extending the rapid housing initiative and phasing out public financing for the fossil fuel sector more quickly.

In exchange, the Liberals will be able to count on NDP support on the budget, budgetary policy and budget implementation bills. The NDP has also promised not to move a vote of non-confidence or vote for a non-confidence motion until the House rises ahead of the next fixed-date election, which would be in 2025.

The Liberals will let the NDP know if they plan to call a confidence vote so the parties can chat privately about their voting intentions privately, which would give the government time to reconsider.

An oversight group will meet monthly to make sure the agreement is still working for both parties, and party leaders, House leaders and whips will do the same on a regular basis.

Has it happened in Canada before?

Singh says he’s following in the footsteps of former NDP leaders Tommy Douglas and Jack Layton, who held the balance of power in minority federal governments, but this is the first time two federal parties have entered into this particular kind of agreement.

It’s more formal and has a longer timeline than any agreement seen at the national level before, said Jonathan Malloy, chair for the Study of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy at Carleton University.

However, the idea has been tried at the provincial level.

The first time was 1985 in Ontario, when the Progressive Conservatives won the election with a minority. The NDP, under Bob Rae, agreed to call a non-confidence vote and support the Liberals for two years. In exchange, the Liberals agreed to legislate some NDP priorities.

The most recent example was just last year in Yukon, when Liberals won the same number of seats as the Yukon Party. The territory’s New Democrats signed a confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals to keep people from returning quickly to the polls.

Similar agreements were also made in British Columbia in 2017 and New Brunswick in 2018.

What do the parties get out of it?

Mainly, time.

“The Liberals get to survive in a minority government,” said Malloy.

Most minority government terms are short, leaving little time to accomplish big, multi-year promises. The agreement means the Liberals will stay in power until 2025, when they must return to the polls.

For the NDP, the agreement offers time to rebuild its war chest for the next election, and some relevance on the federal stage, Bélanger said.

If the NDP is able to show progress on some of its key policy ideas, the party might be able to translate that into a record to run on in the next election, he said, showing people what a New Democratic government could look like.

What are they giving up?

The Liberals will need to accommodate NDP ideas as part of their legislative agenda. That could mean putting other Liberal priorities on the back burner.

“They’re losing their free hand to direct the country in ways that they see best,” Malloy said.

It could also mean billions in new spending. Dental care alone is expected to cost about $11 billion over five years, according to the NDP’s 2021 election platform.

The NDP run the risk of the Liberals taking credit for their policies, Bélanger said. They may also forgo some leverage when it comes to influencing other elements of the budget and confidence votes, since they’ve promised to support the Liberals as long as they hold up their end of the deal.

Could there still be an election before 2025?

The deal only works as long as everyone agrees to honour it. Both party leaders say they’re going into it with good faith.

Singh said the NDP will be looking to the spring budget to make sure there the Liberal government moves ahead on elements of the agreement.

While the Liberals could theoretically designate every tricky vote a confidence vote, shackling the NDP on major issues, Singh says there are some things the NDP simply will not support. Back-to-work legislation is one example Singh said he gave Trudeau in their talks.

“It is true that at any point in time, we are able to withdraw support,” Singh said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2022.