‘Canada: No-confidence motion against Trudeau’s govt on cards’
Vancouver: Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday his party plans to put forward a no-confidence motion “at the earliest possible opportunity” in hopes of bringing down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.
Poilievre called on New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh to support the motion and trigger an election.
“Will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said at a news conference in Ottawa. “It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
Singh refused to say if his party would support the Conservatives. “I’ve said on any vote we will look at the vote and we’ll make our decision,” Singh said during a party caucus meeting in Montreal. “We’ll make a determination of what is in the best interests of Canadians. Unlike Pierre Poilievre who wants to play games, we actually want to get things done for Canadians.”
Singh shrugged off Poilievre’s demand for an answer before two byelections Monday. “I say directly to Pierre Poilievre I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh.
Just last week the NDP withdrew from a supply-and-confidence agreement with Trudeau’s minority Liberal government that helped keep it in power. The deal, reached in 2022, meant the NDP would support the federal government on no-confidence votes in exchange for progress on shared priorities.
“We made a decision that we can no longer continue the agreement,” Singh said Wednesday. “Now we’re back in a standard minority government where we’re going to make a decision based on every vote that is in front of us.”
The next Canadian federal election is scheduled for October 2025. The Liberals currently have 154 seats in the 338 Canadian House of Commons. The Conservates hold 119 and the NDP 24. The Bloc Québécois, a party based only in Quebec and is devoted to Quebec sovereignty, has 32 seats.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has said his party is willing to support the government if the Liberals agree on issues like increased support for seniors and granting Quebec more powers in immigration matters. Most polls show the Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals with the NDP sitting third. Trudeau is also very unpopular among many voters.
Speaking at a caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., Trudeau was asked about comments from Alexandra Mendes, a Quebec Liberal MP, who said in a French-language interview that many of her constituents believe he should step down as party leader.
