It’s hard to know what to make of the Liberal/NDP deal that is intended to keep Justin Trudeau in the prime minister’s office until 2025 [“North Island-Powell River MP supports supply and confidence agreement with Liberal government,” March 22].
What isn’t hard to know is that the NDP gave away whatever political credibility they have in return for very little.
As independent analysis by the online news publication The Maple reveals, 22 of the 23 “promises” in the agreement are simply restatements of or add-ons to existing federal programs and commitments. In fact, some of the language in the agreement is copied and pasted, verbatim, from the Liberal’s election platform.
Moreover, none of the promises in the agreement are guaranteed to be implemented.
Clearly the Liberals were looking for a way to extend their minority government. And so the NDP, even as the fourth party in parliament, had a measure of power to extract meaningful progress on critical issues from the Liberals.
Unfortunately, the agreement just announced accomplishes too little too late on too many urgent issues. Voters will likely remember that whenever the next election rolls around.
John Young, Wildwood
Powell River
