Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is asking the New Democrats and Bloc Qu茅b茅cois to stop supporting the minority government and force an early election, saying Liberal policies are making life less affordable for Canadians.

鈥淐anadians cannot afford another painful, costly, chaotic and corrupt year of Justin Trudeau,鈥� he said at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday morning.

鈥淗e will not quit; he must be fired.鈥�

Poilievre called for the other opposition parties to vote non-confidence in the government when the House of Commons resumes next month.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, when asked about Poilievre鈥檚 call for an election at a press conference in Toronto, defended her party鈥檚 economic record, saying inflation remains within the Bank of Canada鈥檚 target rate.

鈥淚 want to conclude by reminding people of the fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of what we have been hearing from the Conservative leader today,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he Conservatives, I think, are showing how fundamentally self-centered they are 鈥� all they care about is themselves and their party. They are seeing this good news for Canadians, (and) they are seeing it as bad news for themselves.鈥�

Poilievre also sent a letter Thursday to New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh, urging him to pull out of the party鈥檚 confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals.

鈥淪ingh sold out to workers to sign onto this costly coalition,鈥� Poilievre said.

鈥淗e can huff and puff all he wants, but he supported the inflationary policies that destroyed the wages of working class people.鈥�

The NDP entered a deal with the Liberals in 2022, agreeing to keep the minority government in power until June 2025 in exchange for movement on key priorities.

New Democrats have used the agreement to push forward initiatives such as dental care and pharmacare, which would provide free diabetes medicine and birth control.

At the press conference, Poilievre wouldn鈥檛 say whether a future Conservative government would maintain those programs, but said his party鈥檚 platform will be released once an election is called.

In a statement in response to questions about Poilievre鈥檚 letter, NDP House leader Peter Julian accused the Tories of wanting to cut programs and said the party fundamentally disagrees with those plans.

鈥淟eaving the deal is always on the table for Jagmeet Singh,鈥� Julian said.

He added that Poilievre wants to 鈥渆nsure pharmacare cannot make it to implementation this fall.鈥�

Legislation that sets the groundwork for a future national pharmacare program passed through the House of Commons last spring and is at the committee stage in the Senate.

If the bill becomes law, it would also allow the health minister to negotiate with provinces and territories to implement federal coverage for certain diabetes and contraceptive medications and supplies.