Is cooperation in politics even possible anymore?
The Liberal-NDP deal pitted ideas vs. politics
What does the now-defunct Liberal-NDP cooperation agreement teach us about politics? Can politicians rise above partisanship for the common good?
I’ve witnessed toxic “hyper-partisan” politics firsthand during my years in Ottawa. It can get pretty ugly. The Conservatives once shut down my presentation to the all-party National Defence Committee practically mid-sentence!
That’s why lots of people took notice when NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed a cooperation agreement back in March 2022. It was a refreshing change that held great promise for progress.
It committed the Liberals to deliver a long list of policies and programs that both parties supported, in exchange for the NDP’s support on key votes that would keep the minority government in power for three years.
Good ideas overcoming bitter partisanship.
Here’s what I told The Globe and Mail that day: “It’s a good day today. We think this agreement could deliver important improvements to public health care… it really gets things back on track.”
To be sure, not everyone in both parties liked the idea of cooperating.
But for the Liberals – most wanted to stay in power. For the NDP - the MPs that I spoke to genuinely wanted to help improve people’s lives.
Don Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver Kingsway, deserves a medal for his work improving health care. Dental care, pharmacare, and a slew of other policies and programs worth billions of dollars were achieved in the ensuing years.
While not part of the deal, the Liberals and NDP agreed on a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Singh “rips up” agreement this week
But the end of the nearly three-year-old cooperation agreement arrived early this week when NDP leader Jagmeet Singh “ripped up” his deal with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
His reasons weren’t exactly clear, but everybody knows how unpopular the Prime Minister is and the NDP risked being tarred with the same brush, I guess.
What is the lesson in all of this?
I’m sad the deal ended early. A lot more might have been accomplished before the mandated election next fall. But I can understand why Jagmeet Singh made the tough call.
Frankly, everyone likes free dental care, but too many are still not willing to vote for the Liberals or the NDP.
The NDP expected that voters would reward them for such great policy achievements – even as the fourth-largest party in the House – an amazing feat!
But the party has not seen any appreciable boost in popular support. And the Liberals have plummeted precipitously.
So why wasn’t the NDP rewarded in the polls?
Pollster David Colletto shared some sobering results this week:
Only about half of Canadians were familiar with the agreement and 1 in 4 didn’t even know it existed.
About 1 in 4 think the deal was good for Canadians, a similar proportion think it was bad for Canadians with the remaining half thinking it had no impact on the lives of Canadians.
Finally, when asked if the NDP should end the deal or continue it, 38% wanted the deal ended, 26% wanted it to continue and 35% didn’t know or have strong views either way. Of note, about 1 in 4 current NDP supporters at the time wanted the party to end the deal.
“Good” politics won out over good ideas?
So when it comes right down to it, the lesson is that despite plenty of people complaining about the toxicity of today’s politics, there are few rewards for politicians to cooperate.
In fact, the party that is responsible for some of the most divisive antics in Ottawa – the Conservatives – are soaring in the polls with a nearly 20-point lead.
I recall an adage from my management training: be careful what kind of behaviour gets rewarded. It seems if people want more cooperation in politics, a lot more need to be prepared to vote for it.
Explain your vote by leaving a comment.
Last week’s poll results
Last week I asked readers if, “Ukraine will likely have to hold peace talks with Russia soon.” A strong majority (74%) agreed. Only 10% disagreed, and nearly twice as many said they were neutral or didn’t know (17%).
Did you miss last week’s newsletter?
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Thank you for everything you do for peace.
Steve
I’m hearing a lot of negativity about the decision, mostly I think, from Liberal supporters but some say they’ve supported the NDP and are unhappy with Jagmeet’s/the NDP’s decision. I think people are assuming this will trigger an election but from my perspective, I think it puts the NDP in a better position to achieve the goals that have not yet been met. Trudeau is not positioned to win at this point, and needs to hold onto power until he can improve his image, or move on to let someone else run.
Whatever happened to 'Unite the Left'? Singh's move almost guarantees five years of Conservative, Fascist rule with cuts to any program that smacks of helping our most vulnerable citizens. This is exactly what happened in 2004-2006 when NDP leader Jack Layton attacked the Paul Martin Liberal government resulting in nine years of Stephen Harper's Conservatives and their regressive attacks on scientists, the climate crisis, and almost never speaking openly to the media and ordinary citizens; just selected supporters which Poilievre does now in his campaign rallies.