L. Ian MacDonald

March 23, 2022

Okay, so it’s a not a coalition, strictly speaking. Call it the Dipper Deal.

The power sharing deal between the Liberals and the NDP, is not an unusual occurrence in a minority Parliament. What is remarkable is how Justin Trudeau for the Libs and Jagmeet Singh for the Dippers successfully kept it to themselves and their closest advisers until it was a done deal, ready to be presented as such to their respective caucuses.

Two other things stand out about the deal—its duration and the content.

Singh and the Dippers are guaranteeing the Libs four more budget cycles and three more years in office until the House adjourns in June 2025 for the fixed date election in the fall of that year.  In return, they’re getting agreement in writing on a seven-point agenda—the Dipper Deal.

And if the Libs fail to follow through, or renege on any of the seven issues, Singh has already said the Dippers will be free to walk away from it. And just to be sure, there will be monthly updates by House leaders and senior staffers, and quarterly meetings between the two leaders.

Does the Dipper Deal bring the NDP any closer to power? No, but they are now power brokers where it matters most to them—achievable social and economic progress as opposed to just words in a progressive party platform.

As Singh himself has already pointed out, that’s sometimes how a leader’s legacy is measured, as it was in the case of Tommy Douglas, the founding father of the NDP.

The partnership between Douglas and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was never written down during the two Liberal minorities  of 1963-65 and 1965-68.  But the legislative legacy is unrivalled among minority governments in the modern era—from universal health care to the Canada-Quebec Pension Plan, and not least, the Maple Leaf Canadian flag that has become synonymous with Canada itself.

Does the Dipper Deal bring the NDP any closer to power? No, but they are now power brokers where it matters most to them—achievable social and economic progress as opposed to just words in a progressive party platform.

It is generally forgotten that the flag debate was among the most divisive and acrimonious in the second half of the 20th century. And it was an NDP proposal for a single red maple leaf at the centre, with red borders, that was accepted over the Liberal proposal of three maple leaves and blue borders, which had been derisively dubbed “the Pearson pennant” by Conservative leader John Diefenbaker. Pearson, to his everlasting credit, just wanted to get it done. It proved to be an admirable Canadian compromise—achievable and unifying.

The seven points of the Dipper Deal are far more substantive than symbolic, and because they’re written down, entirely measurable in terms of outcome and achievement.

Starting with dental care and pharmacare.

This is not socialism, as the Conservatives would do well to take note. The cost of just seeing a dentist, to say nothing of dental surgery, is prohibitively expensive for the millions of uninsured Canadians or employees not covered by dental benefits at work. In a sense, to borrow a trite Liberal turn of phrase, it’s “about the middle class and those working hard to join it.”

What’s unusual about the dental deal is the specific timeline, one already in view. Beginning this year of 2022, children under 12 from families of modest means can visit the dentist at no cost to their parents. And as of 2023, minors under 18 and seniors with family incomes below $90,000, will be eligible to receive payments or reimbursements for dental care. This is the demographic group most in need of dental surgery, which costs well into five figures, but which is essential for health and hygiene.

On pharmacare, the Dipper Deal promises passage of a bill by the end of 2023, with essential medicines to be designated by the National Health Agency. Again, prescription drugs won’t just be for those with the means to pay for them.

The other five points in the deal include progressive policy programs already on the way, notably a national $10 per day child care deal between Ottawa and participating provinces. To be sure, it’s a provincial jurisdiction, but historically the provinces, including Quebec, have no problem taking the money from the feds and running with it.

For the rest, national reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples is on the radar of every political party, and no one will have a problem with revisions to the Elections Act that will make it easier to vote.

There are two items in the deal that could be termed received wisdom from the NDP—labour code amendments enhancing the rights of workers and taxing the super rich. Well, super rich corporations, anyway.

On a more substantive issue, there’s climate change, and a pledge to phase out non-renewable fuels, while re-training displaced workers from the energy sector, and speeding up the target date of 2050 for achieving net zero on emissions growth.

The deal also comes with ramifications for the opposition Conservatives in the middle of a leadership race, not least the candidates for the job.

The perceived front runner, Pierre Poilievre, has announced from the beginning that he’s running for prime minister. Actually, he’s not. He’s running to be leader of the opposition, and would be in that role for at least three years after winning the leadership in September. (Which would prompt another round of cheap drive-by journalism on horrific $20,000 cleanups of Stornoway, the official residence of the opposition leader. I digress.)

As for Trudeau, he’s guaranteed another three years in office, which will make a decade as prime minister, and leave him free to either vacate the role and give the Libs ample time to choose his successor, or seek a fourth term in office, which only his father has achieved since the end of the Second World War.

So there it is. The Dipper Deal. Not just another day or week in the life of a minority Parliament, but a significant and possibly historic moment.

L. Ian MacDonald is Editor of Policy Magazine.