In the aftermath of the 2025 election wreckage, one of the most interesting aspects of the campaign will be how badly Jagmeet Singh failed as leader of the NDP. What transpired last autumn in Singh’s head can only be called a brain cramp. Singh’s commitment to unholy matrimony with the Liberals was the biggest mistake in Canadian electoral politics since David Peterson’s early election call in 1990 brought the socialists to power in Ontario. Polls showed the Trudeau Liberals scoring around the 15 per cent range. Singh had an opportunity to pull the plug on an unpopular prime minister and go to an election as a distant second choice to the Conservatives, but with a chance of becoming the official opposition. His failure to do so ranks as the worst decision in his tenure as NDP leader and an act of political suicide. Soon after former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s departure, the NDP’s fortunes fell; not only did Singh lose his seat, but the NDP recorded its worst performance since the 1993 Chrétien rout. Singh will leave the leadership having watched the party’s seat total decline from 44 in 2017 to its present count of 25. As of April 29, the party will have less than half of that, and Singh will bear the responsibility.
The NDP has a history of using minority governments to wring concessions out of the party with the most seats, but the level of this strategy reached new heights under Singh. After the 2021 election and the disappointing result of increasing their caucus by one seat, Singh decided he could use the situation to help the NDP build a case for forming government. He would enter into a supply-and-confidence agreement with Trudeau’s Liberals. Signed on March 22, 2022, the document said the following: “The agreement will mean that the NDP agrees to support the government on confidence and budgetary matters – notably on budgetary policy, budget implementation bills, estimates and supply – and that the Liberal Party commits to govern for the duration of the agreement. The NDP would not move a vote of non-confidence, nor vote for a non-confidence motion during the term of the arrangement. Other votes which impede the government from functioning may be declared confidence by the government, in which case the government will commit to informing the NDP as soon as possible if a vote will be declared confidence, and the NDP will inform the government of their vote intentions before declaring publicly to permit discussions around confidence to take place.”
The justification for this agreement rested on Singh’s belief that this would provide opportunities for the NDP to push projects like dental care and pharmacare while keeping the Conservatives and Pierre Poilievre from forming government. Other issues that Singh declared the NDP and Liberals would coalesce around included better healthcare, making life more affordable, tackling the climate crisis, a better deal for workers, reconciliation, a fairer tax system, and making democracy work for people. He did not include guaranteeing job satisfaction, free meals at restaurants, or no-limit credit cards. The agreement provided Justin Trudeau with a lease on the PMO until 2025 and unleashed a wrecking ball on Canada’s economy. Singh tried to recant in 2024, but the damage had been done.
Unlike one of his predecessors, Jack Layton, Singh was either too weak or too afraid to stand on the virtues of an NDP government. He folded when asked to vote the Liberals out and face the electorate. Layton voted to oust Paul Martin on two occasions. When allowed to run a third campaign, he crossed the country on a hobbled hip, fighting cancer and carried the NDP into the official Opposition mansion. Singh squandered what was left of the Layton bounty, and the harsh judgment awaiting him beckons in the weeks ahead. He will wear the chains of his accommodation to Liberal duplicity into political oblivion despite what this author suspects will be unwavering huzzahs from the mainstream media who flattered Singh for providing a sheltering harbour for Trudeau and preventing the evil Conservatives from gaining government.
Claiming numerous successful accomplishments, Singh tried to separate himself from the unpopular government and its leader. Passing legislation that protected federal workers, ensuring federal workers received ten days of sick leave, working on dental care and pharmacare, and addressing several other special interest matters highlighted the period in which the parties worked together. During the agreement, Singh failed to note that the Liberal Party’s standing was falling precipitously, and the Conservatives led the polls for most of 2023 and 2024. He also chose to ignore the opportunity presented to the NDP. The polls hinted that Singh’s party stood a decent chance of becoming the official Opposition.
The purpose of political parties remains to win elections, exercise power, and do it repeatedly. That message evaded Singh. Deep in the marrow of the NDP resides a willingness to settle for whatever crumbs the Liberals or Conservatives will feed them. Under Singh, the accommodation with the Liberal Party reached a zenith while the party’s raison d’être sank to a nadir. If turning the Liberal Party into a more progressive bunch fulfilled the NDP’s mission, someone should have told them that Justin Trudeau did not need help occupying a position far left of where most Liberal Prime Ministers have ever been comfortable. Singh led his party straight into a trap they may never recover from. Having tied their destinies so closely to the Trudeau Liberals, few in the nation see much point in voting for the NDP except in their traditionally held ridings. Unfortunately, their strongholds have been reduced during the Singh era, leaving the party vulnerable and weak.
Singh’s tenure will come to an ignominious close after the thumping on Monday night. There will be no lipstick able to dress up this mess. In tying the NDP’s future and reputation to Trudeau, he betrayed the party’s independent streak, broke faith with its commitment to advancing its position in the political pecking order and sold its birthright for achievements Trudeau tried to claim as Liberal programs. When the political obituaries are written at the end of the 2025 election campaign, Singh’s will read like a tragedy: Gone at a young age but overstayed his welcome. He overplayed his hand and never saw it coming. Thinking he could overcome the odds, Singh trusted his instincts. What a sad commentary on a failed political career. Whether or not he can reinvent himself remains to be seen. He will never have the opportunity again to be Canada’s second most identifiable politician, never mind prime minister. Following his tenure, his party will be worse off, either headed for extinction or forced into an abusive merger with its biggest competitor, the Lords of Parliament, also known as the Liberal Party of Canada.
Dave Redekop is a retired elementary resource teacher who worked part-time at the St. Catharines Courthouse as a Registrar until being appointed Executive Director at Redeemer Bible Church in October 2023. He has worked on political campaigns since high school and attended university in South Carolina for five years, earning a Master’s in American History with a specialization in Civil Rights. Dave loves reading biographies.
