The Bloc Québécois will torpedo the Conservative Party’s attempt to plunge the country into new elections, announced its leader, Yves-François Blanchet, after reading the text of a motion of censure to be tabled next Tuesday.
“The Bloc Québécois is at the service of Quebecers. It is not at the service of the Conservatives,” Mr. Blanchet justified to journalists on Wednesday.
Even though he says he has “no confidence” in the Trudeau government, his party intends to vote the opposite way. The Conservative Party of Canada had sent him the text of the motion of no confidence this morning, which, if adopted, would plunge the country into new elections. According to parliamentary convention, the prime minister must resign when the elected members of the Commons adopt a position of no confidence.
“The House has no confidence in the Prime Minister and the government,” the text of the motion, which was also provided to the DutyThe Conservatives have thus decided to remove any allusion to the “carbon tax” or other grievances that their leader, Pierre Poilievre, likes to repeat.
When the vote comes next Wednesday, the opposition of just one opposition party would allow the Trudeau government to survive the motion of censure. The Conservative Party cannot therefore trigger an election this fall without the consent of the Bloc Québécois.
Gains to be had, says Bloc
“We have a position of strength that we will use in the sole interest of Quebecers, with specific demands,” justified Yves-François Blanchet in rejecting the hand extended by his opponent Pierre Poilievre, whose values he claims not to share.
The Conservative leader had nevertheless invited him to join him, in a defiant tone, at the entrance to a caucus meeting Wednesday morning. “The Bloc is going to have to decide: is it going to vote to keep in power the most centralizing, costly and expansionist government in the history of the country?”
The parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois, Alain Therrien, had affirmed in an interview with Duty earlier this month that the phrasing of the Conservative motion could influence his party’s position. “When you come up with a motion of confidence, it depends on how it’s written, what it’s going to include. For example, a motion of confidence [mentionnant] the carbon tax, that’s for sure, we’re not there.”
However, since then, the Bloc Québécois has taken the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun from the Liberals in a highly contested by-election. The 33e Bloc Québécois MP Louis-Philippe Sauvé was also invited by his leader to the federal Parliament on Wednesday.
No response from the NDP
Yves-François Blanchet has been repeating his conditions for collaboration with the Liberal government for several weeks. “There is little time to obtain gains for Quebec seniors, or immigration, or supply management, or medical assistance in dying. […] “If the Liberals want to prolong their agony, they must put on the table things on which we agree,” he instructed his party’s elected officials during a meeting on Wednesday.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was also asked by his Conservative rival to announce his position “now” to “call an election on the carbon tax.”
The latter is constantly insulted by Mr. Poilievre, who invented the nickname “Singh the sellout” for him, even though his vote is necessary to pass a motion of censure.
Since breaking his deal to keep the Liberals in power, Jagmeet Singh has refused dozens of times to say whether he still has confidence in the Trudeau government. The NDP leader has also been critical of the Liberals’ federal carbon pricing, without providing details of his own plan. He was not available to the media Wednesday.