The pain of having teeth pulled and gums prodded for denture fittings was followed by relief at the payment counter: The $4,000 worth of work would cost Ron Brydges nothing under Canada’s new national dental care program.
“This dental plan being free was just a godsend,” said Mr. Brydges, 84, a retired industrial mechanic in St. Catharines, Ontario.
For that, Canadians largely have the leftist New Democratic Party to thank.
Subsidized dental care is among several social programs, including a national drug plan and protections for striking workers, promoted in recent years by the New Democrats that have augmented Canada’s reputation on the global stage as a liberal bastion.
“I view all these things as investments in people, not expenses,” said Mr. Brydges, a New Democrat supporter. “It makes us a better country.”
But today the New Democrats are being severely tested, with questions swirling about the party’s very existence as Canada heads for national elections on April 28 amid a rupture with the United States, its neighbor and closest ally.
The resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Trump’s economic assault on Canada have set off a tectonic political shift, leaving the New Democrats, and their leader, Jagmeet Singh, with dwindling support.
With the country set to choose a new prime minister, voters are weighing who is best suited to defend the country against the United States, and polls show that Mr. Singh is not a viable option, prompting many longtime party backers to switch allegiance at a moment of heightened stakes.
New Democrats who defect will likely support Mark Carney of the Liberal Party, who is in a neck-and-neck race against Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party.
Some Canadians fear the New Democratic Party’s waning influence could weaken the country’s core liberal pillars on issues from health care to immigration to climate change.
But the New Democrats have also drawn criticism from Conservative politicians and others who say that tax hikes to finance social programs will set back Canada’s struggling economy.
Who are the New Democrats?
The New Democratic Party has produced some of Canada’s most visionary political leaders, including Tommy Douglas, the father of universal health care, and has helped expand far-reaching welfare programs.
“They provide a kind of moral compass,” said Susie Moloney, a Canadian horror fiction writer and lifelong New Democrats supporter.
She still has not gotten used to the red Liberal campaign button pinned to her coat, but believes that Mr. Carney, a former central banker, is the right person to take on Mr. Trump and steer Canada through economic turbulence.
In a political lineup, Mr. Singh, who became the New Democrats’ leader in 2017, stands out, wearing a turban on his head and tucking a kirpan, or ceremonial knife, into his suit, reflecting his Sikh faith.
He has been candid about his personal history, revealing in his memoir having been sexually abused by a taekwondo coach. He worked as a criminal lawyer before entering politics.
Mr. Singh, 46, was viewed as the most likable candidate in the last national election, in 2021, with a particular knack for connecting with younger voters, drawing comparisons to liberal American politicians like Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“Like all New Democrats that just love him, I think that he’s a very warm and dignified leader,” Ms. Moloney said. “He would be very electable in good times, but we’re in bad times right now.”
After Mr. Trudeau was re-elected in 2021, the Liberals did not have a majority of parliamentary seats. Eventually, Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Singh forged an agreement combining seats to be able to push through legislation important to both parties.
The New Democrats ended the pact last September, a turning point for Mr. Trudeau, leading ultimately to his resignation.
Where does the party stand?
Several public opinion polls show support for the New Democrats in the single digits and some projections suggest its parliamentary representation could slide from 24 seats to below 12, which would disqualify the New Democrats as an official national party.
But polls do not tell the full story, said Kim Wright, a longtime New Democrats strategist.
“The top-line polling don’t really reflect what ends up happening on the ground come Election Day,” Ms. Wright said, highlighting recent examples in provincial elections where the party outperformed expectations. “We often see this as New Democrats and it doesn’t bother us.”
On the campaign trail, the party can point to a slew of social programs and laws it helped advance.
The national dental plan the party helped establish enrolls 3.5 million Canadians, with New Democrats calling it the “largest expansion of free Canadian health care in generations.”
Under Mr. Singh, the New Democrats also pushed forward a law banning the use of replacement employees when federally-regulated workplaces go on strike, and helped introduce a drug plan that makes certain medications free.
But because all this was achieved in partnership with Mr. Trudeau’s government, the Liberals can also take the credit.
The distinction is hard to explain to voters, said David McGrane, a political studies professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
“There’s the old adage in politics,” he said. “When you’re explaining, you’re losing.”
