On Tuesday morning, it was announced the Liberal Party and the NDP had reached a supply and confidence deal to keep the current government in power until 2025 in exchange for key priorities held within the NDP’s platform. What we find are many questions remaining, but also the seeds of a deal that could flourish into a meaningful victory for Canadians, especially those who need the greatest help.

The 2021 Canadian federal election is over, and it produced one of the most status quo results in Canadian history. While not all ridings have been called, the end result is determined. No party will gain or lose more than a few seats, there was little popular vote shift among the larger parties, and the result is another healthy Trudeau Liberal minority where neither the NDP nor the Bloc Québécois hold the balance of power on their own.

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have come out with a bold costed platform that is a marked departure from Canada’s long neoliberal consensus. It makes a concise and powerful pitch: Canada is plagued by social and economic injustice that has only been intensified by COVID, and as we build out of this crisis, regular Canadians need help, and the rich have the responsibility and ability to contribute to a just recovery.

While it’s been clear for a while now that Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party have been itching for a pandemic election, the official call will be coming in a matter of days. Despite the polling averages look very good for Trudeau—with all observers putting him on the precipice of a majority or better—there also exists major opportunities for Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to grow their caucus, and stop a majority.

On June 10, Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin announced that she left the Green Party to join the Liberal Party. While floor-crossings are relatively common in federal Canadian politics, the impact of this move is a massive one on the tiny Green caucus, now reduced in size by one third. Where this leaves the Greens, the Liberals, and Atwin’s principles are all set to be major topics of discussion.

It is one thing to recognize our society as having genocidal roots in the distant past. But the reality of Indigenous genocide, in particular children kidnapped and killed in the manufactories of murder otherwise known as Indian Residential Schools, confronts us today, and what we see in the here and now is the ongoing genocide of Indigenous people and cultures.

It’s official: Avi Lewis is running for the NDP in the next federal election, which may well happen later this year. He secured the nomination for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country in late May, and has hit the ground running on his campaign. According to Christo Aivalis, Lewis has an opportunity to make a real impact on Canadian politics within the formal arena.

It is undeniable that the current scope and intensity of criticism towards Israel is unprecedented, and lobby groups designed to silence these critiques are failing to control the narrative as they so often have. Will this shift allies of apartheid like Trudeau and Biden? Almost certainly not. But the world is watching, and this moment will be remembered in future generations as a watershed.

Many will rightly say that the NDP’s position still needs to be stronger in favour of Palestinians and their liberation. But make no mistake, writes Christo Aivalis, despite this being a first step, it is still a historic one. With continued pressure from activists within and beyond the NDP, hopefully it can become a rare beacon of justice for Palestinians among mainstream parties in the Western world.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are not the only COVID villains in this country. But, as Canadian Dimension columnist and author Christo Aivalis points out, as leaders of Canada’s largest jurisdictions, they have among the most power, and can do the most good. Instead, they have chosen to sacrifice workers and trample on their rights when they need help the most.