MPs debated the Conservative Party’s second no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government this week amid heightened tensions Thursday.
A day after Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre’s first attempt to overthrow the minority Liberal party failed by a vote of 211-120, the House of Commons was seized by another opposition-led effort.
Statement of Thursday’s motion: “The House of Commons has no confidence in the government, given that it has doubled housing costs in nine years, taxed food, punished work, unleashed crime, and is the most centralized government in Canadian history.” “Pay your taxes, build your home, budget your money, stop crime.” ”
Debate began in the morning and continued throughout the day, with a vote on the motion scheduled for next Tuesday.
The Bloc Quebecois has given the Liberals until late October to heed their demands to avoid an election before the new year, with the NDP citing polls showing Canadians don’t want an election right now. , and this motion is likely to have a similar result as the first motion.
However, neither party has yet announced how they intend to vote on Poilievre’s latest proposal. In a statement, the Conservative Party called on other opposition parties to end their support for the Liberals and “give Canadians the relief they desperately need.”
“It’s a little awkward to be here again today, just hours after the House of Commons passed a vote of no confidence in the Conservative Party of Canada leader,” Government House of Commons Leader Karina Gould said during the debate, adding that Poièvre’s push was I mentioned that it ended in failure. To get Canadians to vote.
“What we saw yesterday is that we actually have three political parties in this House who want to work for Canadians, the Liberals, the Bloc and the New Democrats, and they’re all working for Canadians. That’s what we’re here for. This is work done for Canadians,” Gould said.
“Actually, I feel like there’s a bit of a deflation here. I don’t know, but I feel like Conservative MPs don’t have the same energy today after yesterday’s failed motion. Masu.”
The tension melts away at the moment it gets heated.
The NDP’s supply and confidence agreement is no longer working, and the Liberals are poised to face a series of confidence tests this fall. Emotions are running high on Capitol Hill, given the unstable power dynamics and the possibility that the government could collapse at any time.
A series of heated exchanges have already taken place at this table. From NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s exchange with Poièvre last Thursday to Trudeau’s condemnation of a Conservative MP’s “casual homophobic comments” yesterday.
Before the question period, House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled on a scene from last week in which Mr. Singh took to the floor after Mr. Poilievre called him a “sellout.”
Mr Fergus said that after giving both leaders a chance to “make amends”, Mr Singh had vowed to “act differently in the future”, but Mr Poilievre did not respond, prompting the chairman to issue a statement on Thursday. He said that some questions were canceled during the question period.
“Party leaders have a heavy responsibility to lead by example, which is why the Speaker is calling on members to choose their words and actions more carefully. If they do not, the Speaker will call on members who continue to act contrary to Parliament. We have no choice but to discipline them,” Fergus said.
Later, after a question-and-answer session, the Conservative MP who was accused of making “homophobic” bathtub comments about the prime minister and Canada’s consul general in New York on Wednesday stated his position.
“Hansard points out, ‘Is he engaging with them in the bathtub?'” The point of this comment is, of course, to explain that the meeting does not take place in the bathtub. It is to do. Luxury, luxurious bathtubs have nothing to do with meetings,” Garnet Genuis said. “It had nothing to do with sex. I wasn’t thinking about sex at all.”
Liberal Rob Oliphant, an openly gay MP, disagreed.
“This is a homophobic slur…and if the Consul General of New York were a woman and she was treated like that in this House, this House would be outraged. Every member of this House should be outraged.” Ta.
Some MPs told reporters about decorum, saying this kind of heckling is more appropriate for a hula than the House of Commons.
Health Minister Mark Holland, who was first elected in 2004, said: “Political enthusiasm seems to have taken hold of this place recently.”
“If someone is screaming at you, yelling at you, calling you names, making personal slurs, and repeating it all day long, is that your workplace?” Holland said. “What other workplace would allow something like this to happen?
NDP MP Charlie Angus said heckling has always been a part of parliament, but it has become more personal.
“The idea that we should all sit there as choir boys and girls is not democratic, but what matters is the viciousness of the comments. And what matters is the polarizing language,” Angus said. Ta.
Politicians predict that the tone will worsen
Politicians and officials who were on the Hill during past minority periods say the exhibits represent a parliament in decline.
Former Conservative cabinet minister James Moore has served in five parliaments, three of which were in the minority under Paul Martin and then Stephen Harper, and has faced high-stakes situations. Having had some experience with it, he said that a minority parliament “has a unique dynamic that is very difficult to predict.” ”
“One of the things that people have to keep in mind about minority parliaments as well is that they can fall by accident, sometimes not as designed. We can sometimes operate on thin margins,” Moore said. “And once you introduce a motion of no confidence, there is no going back.”
He said he expected this Congress to be “not more optimistic and civil, but actually a little bit tougher and meaner as we get closer to the next election campaign.”
Scott Reed, a CTV News political analyst and Martin’s communications director, said the fall legislative session so far has been “akin to a minority Congress that is reaching the end of its lifespan.”
“I can assure you, without fear of contradiction, that things are going to get worse. Tensions are going to be high. Emotions are going to get even wilder. And as we get more votes of confidence going into the holiday season. , the risk of something going sideways is going to be very high, and everyone will be in a pinch,” Reid said.
“People’s careers and futures are at stake, and one person’s displeasure with another could literally change the course of political history,” he said.