MNI BRIEF: Canada's Trudeau Losing NDP Confidence Vote Support

MNI (OTTAWA) - Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lost an agreement Wednesday with an opposition party to pass confidence votes like budgets, though NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh declined to say he will quickly seek to force an early election. 

The so-called supply and confidence agreement was supposed to run well into next year and would have allowed the Liberals to remain in office for a regular four-year term before an election next fall. “I have ripped up the supply and confidence agreement” NDP Jagmeet Singh said in a video message Wednesday. “The Liberals have let people down, they don’t deserve another chance,” he said. “They cannot stop the Conservatives. We can.”

Recent polls show Conservatives led by Pierre Poilievre with a double-digit lead in public opinion polls suggesting he would win a majority government amid voter anger over inflation and a housing squeeze. Trudeau has faced some pressure from his own party to step aide that he has rejected, arguing instead he's the best person to seek a fourth straight mandate for the Liberals. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Weak Growth, Election Dent Canada Fiscal Anchor)