Prime Minister Justin Trudeau survived the first confidence vote of the fall session on Wednesday.
After the question and answer session, MPs voted on Conservative Leader Pierre Poiriévre’s attempt to topple his Liberal government, with the motion of no confidence rejected by 211 votes to 120.
As expected, after tense debate and acrimony in the House of Commons before the vote on Tuesday, the parties that hold the balance of power in the minority parliament – the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP – supported the government, giving Trudeau the votes he needed to stay in power.
When you vote against Poirievre The government has positioned the bill as an option to “deliver the carbon tax election that Canadians want,” but NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet have suggested they are not yet ready to force Canadians into an early election that polls show the Conservatives are likely to win.
The outcome of the opposition motion was all but expected in the hours leading up to the vote, intensifying political posturing over future challenges for the Liberal minority government.
The next motion was due to be tabled by the end of the day. The Liberals attempted to table a second motion that they deemed a vote of confidence, a “revenue motion”, which would essentially give the government approval to introduce spending bills, relating to post-consultation changes to capital gains policy.
The bill is linked to the Liberal Party’s last budget and is being treated as a confidence issue because it involves legislation that raises and spends primarily Canadians’ money, but a procedural maneuver meant the vote was postponed and will be considered again on another day.
The Bloc gives the Liberals a month to act.
Without the parliamentary pact that saw the NDP prop them up in the confidence vote, the minority Liberals are likely to face a series of further motions aimed at defeating them in the coming days.
So far, both Singh and Blanchett have said they want to use their votes for policy action first before doing their part to defeat Trudeau.
But on Wednesday morning, Blanchette effectively issued an ultimatum to the government, giving it a month to meet its demands.
He said if Trudeau did not agree by Oct. 29 to help pass and enact two Bloc-sponsored bills — a bill on seniors’ pensions and a bill on supply management protection — he would begin discussions with other parties about toppling the Trudeau government.
The bill Blanchett is calling on the government to push ahead with is Bill C-319 Proposing a 10% increase in Old Age Pension (OAS) benefits for people aged 65 to 74; Bill C-282It aims to protect dairy, egg and poultry farmers in future trade negotiations.
Asked by reporters on Tuesday how he felt about Blanchette’s deadline, Health Minister Mark Holland said he wanted to focus on “policy discussions.”
“I think all proposals should be considered,” he said, “but I don’t think it’s helpful to issue ultimatums. I think it’s helpful to show that Parliament is focused on Canadians, not on politics.”
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said discussions were “ongoing” with both the Bloc Party and the New Democrats about the request for policy measures.
Today, Blanchett appeared to pour cold water on the current status of those negotiations.
“The Liberal party is very good at saying they’re having discussions and that everyone is their close friend,” he said Wednesday. “So far there’s been very little discussion. And as you can see, there’s not a lot of room for discussion.”
More important votes to come
A key vote could come early next week: the Liberals have given the Conservatives a second opposition day in parliament this Thursday, with a vote scheduled for the following Tuesday.
Poiriervre has notified the House of Commons of two motions he could potentially table for debate: one cites Singh and Blanchet’s criticisms of the Liberal party, while the other focuses on Poiriervre’s central criticism of the government’s response to housing, taxes and crime.
And both bills contain various language that shows the House has lost confidence in the government.
Responding to the looming question, Downing Street leader Karina Gould accused the Conservatives of “playing games”.
“I think it’s pretty egregious that they’re trying to bring in another motion of no confidence tomorrow, essentially the same thing they did a few hours ago,” Gould said, “but I think it shows how desperation Mr. Poirievre is.”
The Bloc Party and New Democrats will also each hold one day of opposition activity before the winter break.
Asked by reporters if she thought the Liberals could stay in power until election day in October next year even if they caved in to the Bloc’s demands, Blanchette said she didn’t think so.
As motions and negotiations over support have been rolling in, Elizabeth May, a long-time member of Parliament and leader of the Green Party, predicted one way events would play out.
“There will be jockeying for positions, deals, bribes and offers of bribes and it will continue until after the next budget,” May said.
“And the question is, which party benefits most from the upcoming budget, or perceives it to benefit most, will determine whether the budget succeeds or fails.”
In the meantime, she expects “more time-wasters” to take place.
There’s political theatre on Parliament Hill, but whether it changes Canadians’ appetite for the election is another matter.
“I think it’s fair to assume that Canadians are not closely following every unfolding question and answer session and every vote of no confidence that’s being tabled every day,” said Shachi Karl, director of the Angus Reid Institute.
Karl said interest in the election will depend on where voters stand on the political spectrum.
“The people of this country have a lot more to do than show up to the polls earlier than they think they need to,” she said.
Asked whether a series of confidence votes could have a compounding effect, Kahl said it could work in two ways.
“More votes will start to have an impact on Canadians and they will start to take it more seriously. [an election.] But on the other hand, there may also be factors that cause people to lose interest,” she said.
“The more this becomes the norm, the more attention everyone will be paying to see what happens in the first game. I think once we get to the seventh or eighth game, Canadians will start to be a little more interested in what’s going to happen with the NHL season.”
With files from CTV News Spencer Van Dyke
