The Conservatives have paused their non-confidence motion, which could trigger an election so that a privileged debate about government misspending could continue instead.
Since early October, Liberals have held up the House of Commons by refusing to release unredacted documents regarding the alleged misuse of government funds in the now-disbanded Sustainable Development Technology Canada fund.
For the Conservative party’s non-confidence motion to be voted on, Parliament would have to consent unanimously to pause the matter of privilege. Still, the Conservatives were not ready to let the Liberal government off the hook unless they knew something would come of it.
Conservatives say they will only end the privileged debate if the NDP agrees to vote with Conservatives on the non-confidence motion or if the Liberals provide the long-requested SDTC documents.
The Conservatives put forward a third non-confidence motion, which was supposed to be put up for a vote on Monday afternoon.
The non-confidence motion was meant to pressure the NDP, which holds the balance of power in the House of Commons and can trigger an election, using its leader’s own words.
“I agree with Jagmeet Singh that the Trudeau government is ‘greedy’ and ‘anti-worker,’ Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted on X with the statement. “Now, Jagmeet Singh will have a chance to vote for a non-confidence motion made up entirely of his own words. Will Jagmeet vote yes or no in his own words?”
The motion quotes from various statements by Singh, including when he announced that the NDP were “ripping up” its coalition agreement with the Trudeau Liberals in September.
During his announcement, Singh said that “Justin Trudeau has proven again and again he will always cave to corporate greed” and that the Liberals “don’t deserve another chance from Canadians.
“The fact is, the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people. They cannot be changed, they cannot restore the hope, they cannot stop the Conservatives,” Singh said. “But we can.”
The first time Conservatives put forward a non-confidence vote this year, Singh and the NDP voted against it, and Poilievre accused Singh’s end of the NDP-Liberal coalition as a stunt designed to distance the NDP from the Liberals to win byelections in Manitoba and Montreal.
The second non-confidence vote took place immediately after and was also shot down by the NDP and BQ. The Conservatives need the support of both parties to topple the Liberal government and trigger an early election. To outnumber the 153 MPs in the Liberal caucus, 25 NDP MPs and 33 BQ MPs must side with the 119 Conservatives.
After the Liberals refused to give into Bloc Quebecois demands for further trade protections and pension increases for seniors, Yves-Francois Blanchet declared the BQ’s commitment to vote non-confidence and trigger an early election.
However, BQ has still made an effort to work with the Liberals.
When the Liberal and NDP asked for parliamentary support to give Canadians a two-month GST / HST tax break and working Canadians a $250 cheque, the Bloc said it would support the bill if retired Canadians were also given the $250 cheque. The BQ voted against the motion along with the Conservatives.
Without a successful non-confidence motion against the Liberals, the next federal election will take place on Oct. 25, 2025.
The federal NDP did not respond to True North’s requests to comment.
