Yet again, Singh might not pull the plug.

While I’d love to dust off my campaign lawn signs in March, I’m not holding my breath. Here's why.

Bad news for the millions of Canadians yearning for an immediate federal election: the scandal-ridden Liberals will likely cling to power with the NDP’s continued support when Parliament resumes at the end of March.

No surprises here.

A few weeks ago, I got into a heated debate with a friend over this issue. They insisted that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh would finally pull the plug on the Liberals, as he has vowed to do. Surely, Singh wouldn’t be foolish enough to continue to back the party that prorogued Parliament in the midst of multiple national crises—after years of scandal and incompetence—just to hold a leadership race. And surely, he wouldn’t prop up the Liberal’s new leader—likely Mark Carney, a walking stereotype of the corporate elite the NDP purports to loathe. After years of keeping the Liberals in power, Singh’s only way to keep some shred of credibility with the public is to defeat them in March, and prevent the new Liberal leader from eating the NDP’s electoral lunch. While Singh might not be the sharpest NDP leader in history, even he wouldn’t be dumb enough to do otherwise. Right? RIGHT?!

Wrong.

Believe me, I want my friend to be right. Canada needs a federal election. Scandals, economic mismanagement, and growing public discontent have eroded trust, and yet the Liberals are clinging to power without a fresh mandate. With Liberal insiders likely set to select an unelected elite that has never held office as Canada’s next Prime Minister, questions about the legitimacy of the federal Liberal government are bound to arise. But it’s been obvious for over a year: the NDP will support the Liberals no matter how deep they drag the country into dysfunction. At this rate, I wouldn’t be shocked if Singh helps the Liberals skate past Canada’s fixed election date of October 2025.

Everything the NDP has done - and continues to do - suggests they will prop up the Liberals no matter what they do. Here’s why.

The NDP has made its priorities clear: self-preservation over principle. Time and again, they posture as if they’re about to take a stand against the Liberals, only to cave when it counts. Last August, fearing a humiliating by-election loss in an NDP safe seat, they theatrically declared their confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals “ripped up.” But when Parliament returned, they backed the governing Liberals in multiple non-confidence votes—including one that used their own words.

And they didn’t stop there. The NDP actively helped the Liberals kill committee motions that would have unearthed information on Liberal government misdeeds. Once the supposed champion of labor rights, the NDP supported the Liberals as they bulldozed through unpopular economic policies that hurt working Canadians, and enacted measures against striking workers. And what did they get in return? Absolutely nothing. When the Liberals rolled out their fall economic statement—zero NDP policies because they didn’t even bother to ask.

So why is the NDP still shackled to an unpopular, incompetent, and scandal-ridden government?

Simple: money and titles.

Jagmeet Singh has driven the NDP into electoral oblivion. Gains made under past leaders have evaporated, and Singh knows his days as leader are probably numbered. Left wing stalwarts are already calling for his removal. Another disastrous general election loss would all but guarantee his ouster. He may not even hold onto his own seat—the redrawn boundaries of his riding make an NDP victory anything but certain.

But for now, Singh enjoys a $68,600 leadership bonus on top of his $203,000 MP salary—plus any other perks he’s wrangled from the party. He also hasn’t yet qualified for his MP pension, which requires six years in office to vest. Combine that with his well-documented penchant for luxury—Rolex watches, Versace bags, and Maseratis—it’s not hard to see why he’s clinging to power like a barnacle and avoiding an election like the plague.

Meanwhile, Singh’s caucus is deluding itself into thinking that by supporting the governing Liberals, they’ve reached the apex of political influence. In reality, they’ve obliterated public trust in the party. Polls show that their failure to demand accountability from the Liberals, their complicity in disastrous policies, and their endless betrayals of core progressive values have turned their own supporters against them.

And the Liberals know it. They don’t have to offer the NDP so much as a breadcrumb. They have Singh and his caucus right where they want them—desperate, dependent, and willing to play ball at any cost. That’s why NDP backbenchers are tripping over themselves to reassure the Liberals that they’ll keep this sham of a government afloat.

So while I’d love to dust off my campaign lawn signs in March, I’m not holding my breath.

Thanks to the NDP’s selfishness, Canada’s Liberal government of grifters and incompetents are likely to limp along, pushing the livelihoods of tens of millions of Canadians along with them.

All that said, I pray with every fibre of my being that Singh and his colleagues prove me wrong.

We shall see.