NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is being called out for a slew of misleading social media posts alleging Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was trying to block women’s right regarding access to contraceptives.
“This weekend I gave Pierre Poilievre an ultimatum: 48 hours to stop blocking access to Birth Control for women and Canadians,” posted Singh to X on Monday. “Today is the deadline. He can withdraw or we’ll stop him. He’s going to learn: never mess with women’s rights in Canada again.”
Singh made the comments in regard to the Conservatives’ opposition to the NDP-led pharmacare law. Canadians were quick to point out the fallacy of Singh’s statement.
Contraceptives like birth control are accessible to women throughout Canada and the current debate in Parliament has nothing to do with reversing that. The Conservatives oppose taxpayer-funded contraceptives and other elements of the NDP bill.
Also, under the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement, they do not need a single Conservative MP’s support on passing legislation of any kind, therefore making the options of the “ultimatum” nonsensical.
Singh’s claims were enough to get X to add a fact check under the NDP leader’s post in the form of a community note.
“The LPC and NDP have a confidence and supply agreement & don’t need the CPC to pass legislation,” said the reader’s added context block. “Birth control is legal across Canada and no one is blocking access to it. There is no Charter-enshrined right to government-paid birth control/contraception in Canada.”
Of the dozens of user comments that followed Singh’s post, many were able to swiftly point out that same disingenuous framing.
“The Conservative Party has no effect on whether a bill can be passed. The NDP Liberal coalition control the majority of seats,” wrote one user. “This is just Jagmeet grandstanding and deceiving people as he usually does.”
“Conservatives are not in power. You get that, right? And you want to be PM,” wrote another user.
One user wrote, “please end this nonsense today and vote non confidence. You would if you believed in even half the stuff you post.”
Despite X’s community clarification and an onslaught of Canadians pointing out Singh’s misrepresentation of how the current government in power is able to operate, the NDP leader marched on with his framing with a follow-up post on Monday.
“Pierre Poilievre has doubled down his attack on women’s reproductive health,” wrote Singh. “We just moved a motion to force him to stop his attempts to block access to Birth Control and Diabetes Medications. Conservatives said no. This isn’t over. I’ll update you on what’s next.”
