STICK TO THE SCRIPT — JAGMEET SINGH keeps saying over and over that he’s “ripped up” his deal with the Liberals — though your Playbook confirmed he didn’t literally tear into a paper copy. The NDP leader’s message track involves a lot of repetition, actually. At his big news conference Thursday, every answer produced the same few clips — and returned to the very same talking points. — Strike a contrast: It’s hope vs. fear, “cuts” vs. “dreams,” and Singh vs. PIERRE POILIEVRE — whose name was mentioned upward of two dozen times. — The obvious play: Position the Conservative leader as the bogeyman and squeeze JUSTIN TRUDEAU out of the ballot-box equation. When Singh wasn’t setting up his preferred binary choice, he was railing against the Liberals for being “weak” and “unwilling to stop big corporations from ripping off Canadians.” — In related reading: From the Globe's CAMPBELL CLARK: "Jagmeet Singh opens the JACK LAYTON playbook for a longshot election gamble." — Farmer’s almanac: Singh acknowledged his move means “an election now is more likely than before,” and he’ll assess each vote on its own merits. — Hard not to notice: Journalists at Singh’s presser poked and prodded at key stress points. What about those two hotly anticipated federal by-elections on Sept. 16? The party has high hopes for their LaSalle–Émard–Verdun candidate CRAIG SAUVÉ in the race in Montreal. Singh is joining him on the hustings this morning. And it’s seeking to fend off the popular Conservatives from snatching their long-held Winnipeg seat of Elmwood–Transcona. A loss would be a major blow. And what about the provincial elections coming up in October in B.C., Saskatchewan and New Brunswick? Political parties have a lot of overlap between partisan activists at the federal and provincial levels. A federal race would drain bodies from door knocking. Former NDP adviser JORDAN LEICHNITZ tells Playbook those elections are not a huge influence in the party’s thinking. “I don't think that's the major factor driving any of the party’s decisions about an election,” she said. “I don't think we're going to have an election in the fall, but for different reasons. It's far more about the NDP needing to create some political space between themselves and the Liberals. They need to make that case to voters, and they do need a bit of time to do that.” — The other factor: Singh pointed to the government’s move to swiftly stop the big rail strike last month through binding arbitration as a big factor — but did not say it was the main reason. “It added to the overall examples that we had seen of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals simply being too weak, too selfish and frankly, too beholden to corporate interests to stop big corporations from ripping off everyday Canadians.” — Preparing for war: Check the party war chests and you’ll notice the NDP is still being left behind in the dust by its opponents, as the Liberals outpace them every quarter and the Tories run circles around all the parties. They’ve consistently had little cash coming in to fund a campaign. The death of the deal has apparently unlocked a torrent of cash for both its parties. The Liberals boasted about their best fundraising letter of the year in response to the fallout from the deal imploding. Cash is quickly flooding into NDP coffers, too (Playbook heard C$100 a minute!?). When Playbook checked with the party, NDP National Director LUCY WATSON said in a statement the response from supporters about the news of the deal ending was “overwhelming” and “far beyond our expectations.” “It was really moving to receive a flood of fired-up and hopeful messages from Canadians,” she said. “It was also the best fundraising day by far in quite some time.” Raising money off the threat of an election just around the corner is something all the main parties have in common now. — The first big test: It’s hard to say when the first confidence vote or motion will land. Anything can be declared one. Any member can put one forward. But all eyes will certainly be on the big financial updates: the budget and the fall economic statement. And the FES date could very well wind up delayed by the … — Other big outside influence: Just 60 days left until the Nov. 5 U.S. election. | 
