Ottawa Ontario - New Democrat Party (NDP) Leader Jagmeet Singh says he's fed up with the Liberals because the Trudeau cabinet decided to send the lockout/strike affecting the country's two major railways to binding arbitration.
 
Singh would have preferred the work stoppage be settled at the bargaining table rather than at a Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) hearing.
 
On Thursday, Singh said he was prepared to dissolve Parliament rather than support the Liberals' arbitration order, which came just 17 hours after the work stoppage commenced.
 
"Whether it's a confidence motion or not, I don't care," an angry Singh told reporters.
 
It's hard to take Singh seriously.
 
In the two years since the NDP signed an agreement with the Liberals to prop up the latter's minority government, Singh has on many occasions expressed outrage at Liberal actions, then continued to support them anyway, often within mere hours of his outrage.
 
No one, not even Liberal campaign strategists and Liberal media cheerleaders, is more responsible for imposing the unpopular Trudeau government on Canadians than Jagmeet Singh.
 
Still, as two-faced as the NDP have been about condemning the Libs while also keeping them safely in office, this time might actually be different.
 
Threatening to bring down the government is out of character for Singh.
 
Never in his time of bowing and scraping to the Liberals has he hinted at really, truly, breaking his deal with Trudeau.
 
The deal between Trudeau and Singh is a "supply and confidence agreement".
 
By its very nature, it binds the NDP not to introduce or support any non-confidence motion in the House of Commons that would spark an election.
 
So were Singh to bring a non-confidence motion over the rail dispute, he would clearly be breaking his deal with Trudeau.
 
That's new.
 
By the time you read this column, maybe Canada's railways will be running again, maybe they won't be.
 
On Thursday, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon signed an order sending the Teamsters' union and the country's two largest roadways, CN and CPKC, to binding arbitration aimed at ending their lockout/strike.
 
Almost immediately, the Teamsters responded by challenging the minister's directive and continuing their work stoppage at CPKC.
 
They also served a 72 hour strike notice on CN.

That strike notice is now moot.

You may recall that earlier this summer, then-Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan tried to prevent a strike by WestJet mechanics by sending that dispute to arbitration, too.
 
The CIRB, however, ruled that O'Regan's order was so poorly worded it didn't preclude the mechanics from walking off the job while arbitration ran its course.
 
Perhaps MacKinnon's order will prove to be just as inept.
 
But whether the rail strike continues and imposes grave economic damage on Canada's already anemic growth or not, the aspect to concentrate on, is whether Jagmeet Singh does anything meaningful about his outrage this time.
 
Could Singh at last pull the political rug out from under the P.M.'s feet and end our long, national nightmare?
 
My bet is that while his initial outrage has been greater than on any other issue in his two years of bolstering the Liberals, in a day or two he'll cool down, and realize once again that NDP poll standings and fundraising are still abysmal.
 
He will then, once again, refuse to bring down the Trudeau government.
 
Since coming to the Liberals' rescue in March 2022, Singh has promised to "hold the Trudeau government to account" on issues such as dental care, pharmacare, and national day care.
 
He has railed about Trudeau's refusal to impose price controls on groceries and electricity bills.
 
And he has claimed the Liberals are "more interested in the corporate profits" of their "CEO friends" and the "ultra wealthy" than defending ordinary Canadians.
 
On each occasion, in the next breath, Singh has voted to keep the Trudeau-ites power.
 
Let's hope this time, Singh isn't such a hypocrite.
 
Lorne Gunter.