ELECTION WATCH — Singh's video offered few clues about when, or if, the NDP will vote to trigger an election. The leader made no specific threats, and he can still support the government on an issue-by-issue basis. So can the Bloc Québécois, for that matter. The Tories will surely propose a motion of non-confidence at the earliest opportunity when the House returns Sept. 16. — Quick refresher: Confidence votes come in several forms. If the House votes down a money bill — say, a budget implementation act — then the government falls. But the House can also pass a simple motion of non-confidence. Governments sometimes ratchet up the tension by treating specific votes as matters of confidence, daring a united opposition to take the leap. — The upshot: The Hill is in for a drumbeat of speculation in advance of each and every confidence vote in the chamber. Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE, speaking at a press conference in Nanaimo, British Columbia — yes, the same Nanaimo where the Liberal caucus will huddle next week — dared Singh to join him in forcing an election. — Priorities, priorities: One big reason Singh might not pull the plug just yet? The first phase of a national pharmacare program — a SACA crown jewel for the New Democrats — is not yet the law of the land. Bill C-64 landed in the Senate earlier this year, and it could come to a final vote as early as next month. The office of the government rep in the Senate told Playbook in June that senators could take a final vote as early as Oct. 10. — Campaigner pool: On CBC's At Issue panel, CHANTAL HÉBERT observed that New Democrats — and Conservatives — will both have staffers occupied in coming weeks with fall elections in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. — Your turn: Will Parliament survive all the way until late 2025? Place your bets. CAMPAIGN LINES — Singh's NDP knew it was going to have to differentiate itself from the government ahead of the next election. The question was when. Wednesday brought the hard line in the sand. Here's how the NDP leader framed it: → The long version: “Justin Trudeau has proven again and again he will always cave to corporate greed. The Liberals have let people down. They don't deserve another chance from Canadians. There is another, even bigger battle ahead. The threat of Pierre Poilievre and Conservative cuts. From workers, from retirees, from young people, from patients, from families — he will cut in order to give more to big corporations and wealthy CEOs." → The short version: "The Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people. They cannot be the change. They cannot restore the hope. They cannot stop the Conservatives." → NDP campaign tagline: "It's the people's time." BACK TO THE FUTURE — The SACA emerged shortly after a 60-hour CP work stoppage ended in 2022. SEAMUS O'REGAN, the labor minister who'd monitored those rail talks in Calgary, also attended hasty virtual Cabinet and caucus meetings as the governing deal coalesced. O'Regan echoed the vibe of the day in a conversation with Playbook. “Especially with the mood I'm in right now, stability and certainty are very attractive to me,” he said at the time. “And I think they're very attractive to a lot of Canadians. The world has enough uncertainty going on." → Fast forward to 2024: New Democrats started seriously reevaluating the two-party pact when the new labor minister, STEVEN MACKINNON, forced an end to a pair of lockouts at CPKC and CN by ordering binding arbitration. Earlier this week, Canadian Press reporter MICKEY DJURIC caught up with NDP MP MATTHEW GREEN ahead of his party's upcoming Montreal caucus retreat. "Everything is on the table," Green told Djuric. "And I would aggressively say everything is on the table." As it turned out, Singh and the NDP weren't willing to wait that long. | 
