An agreement was announced recently that the Federal NDP will prop up the minority Liberal government until the 2025 election.  

The deal will see the NDP support the Liberals in any confidence votes and, in return, the Liberals will support several of the NDP’s key priorities.  

Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan Conservative MP Fraser Tolmie reacted, saying that he was disappointed in the agreement, but also not surprised. He said this has been in action in the House of Commons for the past six months and now it is just being formalized.  

“Quite honestly, we're in for some pretty rough roads for the next couple of years while this is going on,” Tolmie said.  

Tolmie said he is concerned about the rising cost of living when it comes to groceries and gas. Having NDP initiatives, such as universal pharmacare and dental care, is going to cost Canadians even more.  

“It's a difficult time to be able to pay for our health care system as it is, and so to tack on this is going to be even more," Tolmie said.   

“So, that's why I'm saying prices are going to go up. You're going to see lots of increases on a lot of things if this is to actually go through.”  

While from the outside it may look like the agreement will give NDP leader Jagmeet Singh more power as he can pull out of the agreement at any time if he isn’t happy with the Liberal government’s actions, Tolmie feels Singh is giving away his power.   

Tolmie said the people did not vote for the NDP as they are the fourth largest party in the House of Commons and Singh has lost his base supporters because they are not in favour of an agreement with the Liberal government.  

“Quite honestly, Mr. Singh is no Jack Layton and the NDP have lost their vision, and I believe that this is going to be a very challenging time (for them) after the next election,” Tolmie said.  

The Liberals hold 159 seats in the House of Commons, while the NDP holds swing votes with 25 seats.