Chief Strategy Officer Marci Surkes speaks about the end of the Liberal-NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement with Global News.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power and Adrian Wyld

And just as it gives New Democrats some freedom to position themselves more aggressively versus the Conservatives or the Liberals, it also gives the Liberals some freedom they might need to re-position themselves on the political spectrum.

“This is an opportunity for the Liberals to distinguish themselves from the NDP,” said Marci Surkes, who is now chief strategy officer at CompassRose Group. Before joining that consultancy, she worked in Trudeau’s PMO as the director of cabinet and policy. She was in the PMO when the Liberal-NDP deal was being negotiated.

“Liberals have traditionally hewed to the centre and found great electoral success, [but] there has been a perceived drift among Liberal supporters to the so-called left of the political spectrum,” Surkes said.

The collapse of the deal lets the Liberals do whatever they want to do to proceed between now and the election, she continued.

“They can either stay there if they believe there’s more currency for them on the left … or they can actually try to move back to the centre and try to appeal to the sort of centre-right voter, the sort of softer Tory voter, the more traditional blue-Liberal voter, and say, ‘We’ve actually come back home to the centre and here’s your home.'”

Surkes said she was not surprised to see the two-and-a-half-year deal come to an end. While it was in place, it worked well for both parties but, in her view, the political landscape has shifted and the NDP is reacting to those shifts.

“I think it’s a series of issues, not to mention the fact that the Liberals’ polling has consistently been weaker than the government would like it to be,” Surkes said.

“The NDP doesn’t necessarily want to be tied to a weaker government, either. That’s not in their best interest. And they see opportunity in the Liberals’ weakness. Clearly, they’re on the hunt for a win in the [Montreal] by-election. They’re on a hunt for a strong placement in the federal election. And so now is the time to start creating a contrast, be able to stand up and say, ‘We’re going to stick it to Trudeau every day in the House on behalf of Canadians.'”