‘He just wants his pension’: Singh accused of political posturing by Ontario premier

Ontario Premier Doug Ford accused NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh of being a greedy politician who won’t risk an early federal election because it could thwart his plans on collecting a lucrative government pension.

Ford said he would “be floored” if there was an early federal election, stressing on Monday that Singh won’t let that happen because it would put his pension in jeopardy.

Singh would qualify for the pension in February 2025.

Speculation that an early election could be coming intensified after Singh tore up an agreement that saw his New Democratic Party (NDP) prop up the Liberals, essentially keeping them in power despite Justin Trudeau’s plummeting popularity.

The two parties entered into the deal in 2022, with the NDP agreeing to keep the minority government in power until June 2025 in exchange for movement on key priorities.

Speaking from Prince Edward County on Monday where he was announcing funding for a new water treatment plant, Ford bluntly said Singh was bluffing.

“As far as I’m concerned MP Singh is just blowing smoke,” Ford said. “There’s nothing more important to these greedy politicians than colleting a pension. And he was elected in October 2019 and I’ll be floored, I’ll stand up here and apologize to all the greedy politicians if he calls the election early.”

“But let’s face it, he wants his pension,” he added. “He’s not going anywhere (until October 2025) because there’s him and a whole lot of other politicians who want to grab the taxpayers’ money.”

“So my bet is he’s not doing anything, he’s just putting on a big show like he has for the past number of years there.”

Singh has denied that his pension is a factor, but has faced federal Conservative attack ads suggesting the opposite. One such ad, released in late July, ends with the tagline “Sellout Singh. He gets his pension, you pay the price.” The NDP called the ads a “dishonest personal attack.”

Meanwhile, Ford wouldn’t say if Singh’s tearing up of the deal affected his own plans for a possible early provincial election.

“We haven’t made that decision yet, we aren’t calling an election this year and we’re going to make sure that we continue with prosperity and creating jobs for the people of Ontario,” Ford said on Monday.

The prevailing thought among Ford’s inner circle was to send Ontario voters to the polls early ahead of a possible federal election to get out in front of a potential federal Conservative government – one that could potentially introduce an austere budget just before the scheduled provincial vote in the spring of 2026.

According to Jamie Ellerton with public relations and communications firm Conaptus Ltd., that plan has now changed.

“I do think it adds a different element of risk to it that wasn’t foreseen as recently as six months ago,” he recently told 680 NewsRadio Toronto.

“I think there’s going to be greater instability federally and I think the contrast between Doug Ford and Pierre Poilievre, especially with centre-right voters, is growing increasingly apparent in terms of who is a Conservative and who is just governing. I think this aspect of it is an understated risk to the go early strategy when the whole premise of it was to get out in front of it in their favour.”

With files from The Canadian Press and Richard Southern