Singh says Toronto byelection shows voters are ‘done with Trudeau’

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OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said this week’s Toronto—St. Paul’s byelection results showed “how frustrated” Canadians are with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals but declined to explain why his own party’s numbers also experienced a similar drop.

In 2021, the federal NDP got 16.8 per cent of the vote in the Toronto riding, which its represented by the provincial NDP in the Ontario legislature. But during Monday’s byelection, the party garnered only 10.9 per cent of the vote — a drop of nearly six points.

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In comparison, the Liberals’ share of the vote dropped by nearly nine points — from 49.2 to 40.5. During that period and the Conservatives’ support shot up nearly 17 points.

Singh was in Toronto on Thursday to highlight the expansion of the Canadian Dental Care Plan, which will now cover children under the age of 18 and people with disabilities. The program is a core component of the NDP’s supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals.

Liberal ministers were also dispatched across the country to announce the rollout of the dental care plan that day, but instead faced more questions about Toronto—St. Paul’s.

Families Minister Jenna Sudds told reporters that there is “no time like the present to ensure that we’re delivering for Canadians” and said that is why she was sharing the progress on “very tangible programs and results that Canadians are benefitting from.”

“To me, the stakes have never been higher. I have never wanted to work harder with my caucus and in my community to ensure that this progress can continue,” she said.

Singh said he has been hearing at doorsteps how frustrated voters are with the Liberals.

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“We look at this as really people sending their message. They are frustrated with Trudeau. They’re done with Trudeau, and they are frustrated with the Liberal party, and they’ve got reasons to,” he told reporters in response to questions about Monday’s results.

“We hear this again and again: things are getting worse, not better. The Liberals have had nine years to make improvements, and they haven’t,” he added.

An NDP source downplayed the importance of the Toronto—St. Paul’s byelection, saying that they had always finished in third place in the riding even during the orange wave of 2011 but that they hope to be competitive in other Toronto ridings against the Liberals.

During his press conference, Singh was accompanied by his candidate in Toronto—Danforth, Clare Hacksel, who said that she has met thousands of people across the riding who all convey the same message.

“They say they’re working so hard; they feel like they’re doing everything right. They don’t know how their children are going to afford a home. They don’t know how they’re going to pay their bills at the end of the month. These are real issues,” she said.

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“When they look at the parties and they think, ‘Okay, well, what are my options next time around? Who’s really out there fighting for me?’ All they see is the NDP fighting.”

Singh said that his party will be embarking on a listening tour this summer to hear from Canadians. But already, the battle lines are clear: the NDP wants to show that Trudeau has been letting Canadians down and that Pierre Poilievre will make things “a lot worse.”

“We’ll have a real choice in front of Canadians, and we’ll make that choice very clear,” he said.

“New Democrats are going to fight for you, take on corporate greed, make life more affordable, change the rules to benefit you. Conservatives want to cut and gut the services, let corporate Canada rip you off even more, driving up your costs. That’s a choice.”

Sudds also floated the idea that social programs such as dental care and childcare would be at stake under a Conservative government, even though Poilievre hinted in an interview last December that he would not cut programs that are “already in place for Canadians.”

“I fear the Canada where those programs don’t exist,” said Sudds.

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Conservative health critic Stephen Ellis said that “the only thing Canadians have gotten out of Justin Trudeau’s dental disaster is more costly photo ops from Liberal ministers” and said the dental plan is “riddled with chaos, backlogs, red tape, and higher costs.”

“Common sense Conservatives will axe Trudeau’s carbon tax, build the homes, and reign in his inflationary waste to bring down costs for families so they can finally afford to visit the dentist,” he said.

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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