The federal parties appear to be locked in a game of chicken in an increasingly unstable parliament over a debate that has stalled nearly all business in the House of Commons.
The Conservatives have vowed to continue the debate until the Liberals hand over to the RCMP unredacted documents related to the Green Technology Foundation, which was found to have fraudulently spent government funds.
The debate is now in its second week.
Conservative MP Kyle Seebach told the House of Commons on Monday: “We could sit down now and just hand over the documents and it would all be over.”
“The Liberal Party can end all of this.”
The speaker ruled last week that the Liberals had failed to comply with a House of Commons order to hand over documents related to the Green Technology Foundation, known as Canada Sustainable Development Technologies.
The foundation was abolished this summer after the Auditor General found dozens of conflicts of interest cases and several cases in which funds were funneled to unqualified projects.
But Speaker Greg Fergus also said the issue was complex and should be considered by a committee, and argued the government should not provide documents to police.
The Liberals could introduce a motion to end debate, but would need support from another party to force the House to move on to another topic.
Conservatives are poised to launch a new confidence movement
Liberal Leader Karina Gould’s office said it was up to the Conservatives to end the filibuster.
The Conservatives are poised to make the document the focus of their next attempt to overthrow the House of Commons and trigger an election.
On Friday, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poièvre announced that he would table another no-confidence motion.
The language of the latest motion targets the Green Technology Foundation and the government over the inflated costs of the ArriveCan app.
“Millions of Canadians are lining up at food banks while Liberal Party insiders line their own pockets,” the Conservatives said in the motion, adding that they will do so the next time Opposition Day is scheduled. He said the party may bring it up for debate.
The number of opposition days allocated to each seat is decided at the start of the session, but the government decides when to do so.
The Conservatives have three more days of protests planned before the December holidays, but cannot set another date while MPs are in the midst of a debate over privileges.
Unlike the previous two no-confidence motions tabled by the Conservatives this fall, the Conservatives are now more likely to win support from Bloc Quebecois, putting the government at greater risk of collapse.
Leader Yves-François Blanchebroc said the Liberal Party plans to begin negotiations this week with other parties to overthrow the government if they do not agree to its demands. The Block wants the government’s support for a bill that would increase old-age security payments for people under 75, costing an estimated $16 billion over five years.
Quebec government deputy Jean-Yves Duclos showed no signs of responding to the request Monday, while repeating his concerns about the Bloc’s bill.
“In a few years, a wealthy pensioner like me will have more money than a low-income senior who has to make do on $20,000 a year in pension income,” Duclos said. said.
“That’s not the right way to focus on vulnerable seniors.”
The New Democratic Party said it had not yet been approached by the bloc and would decide how to vote on a case-by-case basis.
The Liberals say the House of Commons should not provide documents to the RCMP for an inquiry into Canadian Sustainable Development Technology spending. They said police needed to go through the proper channels to investigate or the House’s actions could violate due process rights.
The RCMP received redacted versions of documents the government had already provided to the House of Commons in August, raising questions about whether documents submitted by Parliament can legally be used as part of the investigation.
“The RCMP continually evaluates information and documents that may give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy. This will ensure that all applicable legal standards are complied with during this review. “This is important to ensure that the police are safe,” the National Police Agency said in a statement on Friday.
