Singh walks back coalition talk as campaign enters final week
Heading into the final week of the election campaign, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh campaigned at a popular Vancouver market on Thanksgiving Monday in a bid to capitalize on his new-found momentum, but deflected questions on a potential Liberal-NDP coalition a day after he opened the door to the possibility.
At a campaign stop in Surrey on Sunday, Singh said he would “absolutely” be wiling to work with other parties to prevent a minority Conservative government. On Monday, Singh appeared to retreat from that statement.
“That was not my position,” he said. “My position is this: We have a number of priorities and I want Canadians to know that they can vote New Democrat, vote as many New Democrats as possible, and all the commitments and priorities we told you about, we will fight hard to make sure they are put in place.”
Singh did not want to talk about a coalition government despite repeated questioning by reporters. He rebuffed a question on whether he would insist on NDP MPs in cabinet in a hypothetical coalition government, saying “I’m not negotiating the future today.”