OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper leads an anti-democratic government that cannot be trusted, his political opponents charged in the wake of a pair of key rulings Wednesday that could precipitate a general election that could be called as early as March 23…NDP deputy leader Libby Davies said her party will also attack the Conservatives for abusing the democratic process in a spring election."Whenever the election is, (this) really strikes at the heart of the credibility of this government and whether or not you can trust Stephen Harper," Davies said.

In the year and a half since Jagmeet Singh became leader of the federal NDP, the party has seen byelection defeats and a drop in political donations. With less than six months until the fall election, can Singh still energize the party to gain seats? The Agenda discusses the party’s efforts to diversify the appeal of the orange tent? A panel discussion with Libby Davies, Jennifer Hollett, Paul Taylor and Sid Ryan.

Despite recent statistics showing HIV/AIDS on the rise in Canada, AIDS service organizations say the government has made it more difficult to access federal funds. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) released its guidelines for funding proposals for Canadian HIV/AIDS groups on Dec 2, giving groups just 28 days to make their cases for more federal funding. Funding criteria has also changed, and funding is now open to groups that had not received past monies. Applicants must now also include more information from partners, and the funding envelope is for two years instead of the usual four…NDP health critic Libby Davies says it’s disrespectful. “I hate to be cynical, but I feel like there is a pattern where for funding, they like to create this sense of uncertainty, and it creates almost a dependency, where people don’t dare speak out,” Davies says of the government.