NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on his party's tentative deal to support Trudeau's Liberal government until 2025

A significant deal between the federal Liberal and NDP parties could shape the landscape of Canadian politics until at least 2025.

That's how long the New Democrats, led by Burnaby South MP Jagmeet Singh, have agreed to prop up Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in exchange for advancing a number of NDP priorities — including a new dental care program for middle- and low-income Canadians.

The agreement, titled Delivering for Canadians Now, A Supply and Confidence Agreement, was officially announced Tuesday and means the NDP will support the government in confidence votes and on budgets, Singh says, so long as the Liberals don't fall short on their commitments.  

In the wake of the announcement, he spoke Wednesday morning with The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn about the new deal and what it means for Canadians.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

This agreement supports the Liberal government on budgetary matters. Is there a line that you are not willing to cross there depending on what is in a particular budget?

It's outlined exactly what our criteria for support is. So in the first budget, we're expecting money to be allocated for one of our big victories — to get people their dental care so they can take care of their teeth, starting with kids under 12 who need help the most and  don't already have coverage. We need to see that in the budget.

We're hopeful and we're going to be vigilant and push the Liberals to continue to do what we have agreed to do. 

And what about when it comes to the Trudeau government's investment in such things as the Trans Mountain pipeline, which is something you have historically been against?

What we've outlined in the agreement is that there are things that we agree on and there are things that we used our power to obtain for people. There's things that we're going to continue to disagree on and we've said we're going to continue to oppose. We remain an independent party. We remain an opposition party. And things that we think are going to hurt the environment — things that we believe are not in the interest of Canadians — we're going to continue to raise those concerns.

WATCH | Trudeau on Canadians' expectations of government: 

'You need to work with other parties,' Trudeau says of Canadians' expectations of government

3 years ago

Duration 1:54

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question about whether Canadians would be happy with the confidence-and-supply agreement between the Liberal Party and NDP.

There's a front page story in the Globe and Mail today that says that you've agreed to vote in favour of more military spending in exchange for funding for new social programs. How far are you willing to go to support spending more money on helping defend Ukraine? 

What I've said is we have made it clear what we need to see in the budget and that's an increase in spending on health care. The federal government has been cutting those investments so we fought to obtain more supports and no cuts.

I've acknowledged that we  feel like the world is a less safe place given what's going on and that we've got a role to play. I've said that where Canada can play the most effective role has been in promoting peace and diplomacy and supporting countries that need help to get to a more stable and safe position and that remains our position.

We know that it's a little late for peace and diplomacy in Ukraine now though, right? 

There's no doubt about it. We need to send Ukrainians the tools to defend themselves. It's horrific what's going on and we support what Canada's been doing on that front. 

We also know that our armed forces need to have the tools and equipment required to do the jobs that we ask of them. and that's something we've long maintained as our position.

You said, though, in January of this year, that you supported non-combat military training and you did not support the provision of arms or lethal military gear going to Ukraine. Have you changed your mind about that? 

The situation evolved. We did not want to see an escalation of conflict but now we're seeing horrific human rights violations and need to provide the Ukrainians with tools.

This deal involves an awful lot of spending for a national dental care program, as well as national pharmacare. What is the combined cost?

The dental care program is immediate and that's been most detailed in terms of its cost. For a full implementation it's in the range of $4 billion and then $1 billion annually to maintain to get basically one in three Canadians who don't have coverage right now covered. The plan is to cover children in need under 12 first and that cost is something we're still working out. By 2023, every child under 18 who needs care, as well as seniors and people living with disabilities, will also get the coverage. 

This deal was originally announced as a deal between the leadership of both the NDP and the federal Liberal Party. Have you taken this question to your caucus?

Yes, we worked it out initially —when we first got elected. I told my team, we're in a minority government, let's use this opportunity to get help to people. I was empowered by my team to go out and do that. That initial discussion didn't go far and we were able to revisit it and I'm really honoured that we were going to bring in one of the biggest expansions of our health-care system in a generation.

Before the September election, you said Trudeau was failing to act on issues of climate change, housing and health care and said he was "bad for Canada." So, now you've hitched your wagon to a guy who's bad for the country?

Actually, we said really clearly, we're the ones who are going to make it happen and we're the ones who made it happen. When it comes to health care, the Liberals would not have done this but for us being there. We've got an agreement now that outlines dental care and pharmacare, action to deal with the housing crisis and climate action. 

And what do you say to people who voted NDP and specifically did not vote for the Liberals?

Well they voted for us to put in place dental care and pharmacare and that's what we're doing. We're doing exactly what we campaigned on and we're making it happen with just 25 MPs.