Interim NDP leader pushing for resources after party loses status in Parliament

OTTAWA — The interim leader of the federal NDP says that while the door may be shut to the party being granted official status in the House of Commons, he hopes other parties will grant it resources.  Don Davies says that while he has not spoken to Prime Minister Mark Carney, federal New Democrats are having “fruitful discussions” and looking to see what is possible through the Board of Internal Economy, which manages the House of Commons’ resources. “We’ve already made some progress,” Davies told reporters on Monday. “For instance, we have access to the lobby. We kept our offices.” These “little privileges,” as Davies puts it, are what the federal party now considers as wins after a general election, where the party was reduced to a mere seven seats, down from its previous 24. It was the worst showing the federal party has had in a Canadian election. The last time it lost official party status was in 1993, when the NDP came away with only nine seats. Besides reeling from the political blow that voters dealt the party, which saw Jagmeet Singh, its former leader, resign after placing third in his riding, the fact that New Democrats are returning to Parliament with only seven seats means it has lost many of the resources afforded to parties based on the size of their caucus. Losing official party status means NDP MPs will be limited in how often they can ask the governing Liberals a question in the House of Commons, and will not automatically be reserved a place on parliamentary committees, where legislation flows before it is passed in the House of Commons. While Davies said on Monday that it was “possible” for the governing Liberals to relax some of the rules around what constitutes official party status, as has been done at the provincial level across different legislatures, House Leader Steven McKinnon appeared cold to the idea. “The law requires 12 members,” he told reporters earlier on Monday Davies said the NDP is now looking to see what may be decided by the Board of Internal Economy, which has not yet been struck. Even if no NDP MP ends up on that governing committee, it nonetheless has the power to dole out resources, said Davies. “One of the arguments I’ve made is we’re a national party.” “We had 1.2 million Canadians vote for us, and it’s important that we have the tools we need to function and discharge that responsibility.” Given that the Liberals are operating in a minority Parliament with 169 members, Davies said the government will need to work with others, which is where the seven NDP MPs come in. Prime Minister Mark Carney has already stated he has no plans to pursue a formal arrangement with the federal New Democrats, as his predecessor, former prime minister Justin Trudeau, did in March 2022, which saw the Liberals adopt some of the NDP’s priorities in exchange for the New Democrats passing government legislation. The introduction of a national dental care program was one of the products of that deal, as was the beginnings of a universal pharmacare program. Singh announced in September 2024 that the NDP was leaving the deal, which many of their MPs welcomed, given Trudeau’s increasing unpopularity. During the recent federal election, Singh defended his decision not to trigger an election last fall, at one point saying that he could not  “stomach the idea” of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who was then riding high in public opinion polls, potentially forming a majority government.  The Conservatives’ nearly 20-point lead over the Liberals collapsed once the election got underway, as Carney replaced Trudeau as Liberal leader and Canadians’ minds had turned to the economic and sovereignty threats posed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Several weeks into the campaign, the New Democrats shifted their message to acknowledge the likelihood of the Liberals winning and asked voters to elect as many NDP MPs as possible. The party has not yet announced details for its upcoming leadership race or plans to pursue a campaign review. In Parliament, Davies said the NDP would focus its attention on affordability issues, such as affordable housing, as well as health care, and providing support for workers hurt by Trump’s trade war. National Post Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.