Justin Trudeau shuts down NDP MP’s coalition suggestion: ‘Out of the question’

nationalpost.com
July 23, 2015

Justin Trudeau bluntly shut down the possibility of a Liberal-NDP coalition on Thursday after a prominent NDP MP floated the idea as a way of ousting the ruling Conservatives.

“A formal coalition is out of the question,” the Liberal Party leader said at a Winnipeg news conference. “There are a number of issues on which the Liberal party and the NDP disagree on a quite a fundamental level.”

The remarks followed Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen’s suggestion that the NDP were willing to join forces. In a Wednesday interview with the Canadian Press, Cullen said while winning a majority in this fall’s federal election is still his party’s goal, ultimately the number-one priority is toppling the Tories.

“The Liberal voters that I know are as fed up with Stephen Harper as anybody,” Cullen said.

But Trudeau quickly dismissed the idea Thursday, saying that “Canadians are in desperate need of a better government, not just a different government.”

“We do not believe in reducing the amount of options that Canadians have at the ballot box,” he said.

Trudeau has previously rejected the idea of an NDP-Liberal coalition, though earlier this year he said he might be more open to the possibility if Tom Mulcair were not at the party’s helm.

The last time the idea of a coalition government was seriously floated was seven years ago, when the NDP, Liberals and Bloc Quebecois came together to force the government out of office.

Their efforts were thwarted when the Governor General, at the prime minister’s request, prorogued Parliament, effectively putting it on pause until the new year, by which time there had been a change in Liberal leadership.

Newly chosen Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff ultimately backed out of the proposed coalition by grudgingly supporting the Conservative budget, saving Harper from losing a confidence vote and being forced to call an election.

“I think the Liberals lost their nerve last time and made a huge mistake,” said Cullen.

“But Justin Trudeau will do himself a great deal of damage with progressive voters if he wants to contemplate more years of this Harper government.”