François Legault has had enough of Justin Trudeau. In an unusual statement, the CAQ premier is urging the Bloc Québécois to withdraw its confidence in the federal government, with the stated aim of calling early elections next week.
“What we need in Ottawa is an economic government,” thundered the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) representative in the House on Thursday, demanding in barely veiled terms that the Trudeau government be overthrown and that the House of Commons be dissolved.
A few minutes earlier, during a short exchange with the parliamentary press, he had urged Yves-François Blanchet’s Bloc Québécois to reverse its decision to defeat the non-confidence motion of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) that Justin Trudeau will face next week.
“What is happening now is important,” said the Premier of Quebec on Thursday.
With enough support, the CPC’s motion of censure against Justin Trudeau would have the effect of bringing down his government and setting the electoral process in motion. Except that Yves-François Blanchet has already announced that his party would not endorse this approach. “The Bloc Québécois is at the service of Quebecers. It is not at the service of the Conservatives,” the Bloc leader declared on Wednesday.
In a press scrum on Thursday, François Legault deplored this decision which will have the effect, according to him, of keeping in power a government deeply opposed to the interests of Quebec. He points in particular to the discussions on the reduction of temporary immigrants welcomed by Quebec, at an impasse, he says, for “six months, minimum.”
“Over the past two years, the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec has increased from 300,000 to 600,000. This leads to serious problems when it comes to providing public services. It also leads to serious issues and consequences for the future of French, particularly in Montreal. So, it weakens the Quebec nation,” said the head of the Quebec government.
“So far, the only gestures that have been announced by Mr. Trudeau are insignificant,” he added.
“Lack of courage”
During question period in the Salon Rouge on Thursday, François Legault took on Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, urging him to demand that his “brother party,” the Bloc, reconsider its position. “Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon has a duty to stand up and be courageous and challenge Mr. Blanchet,” he said.
The Quebec Minister responsible for Canadian Relations, Jean-François Roberge, had just announced his intentions to table a motion in the National Assembly to request that “at all times, Quebec members sitting in the House of Commons should only give their confidence to a government if the latter respects Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction.” The opposition ultimately refused to debate it.
In a press scrum after question period, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon denounced a “desperate” exit by François Legault to seek new gains in Ottawa.
“The Prime Minister is telling us, in veiled terms: the solution to my failure for seven years is Pierre Poilievre,” he said. “And that doesn’t hold up because Pierre Poilievre never committed to giving Quebec full powers in immigration.”
“François Legault is all alone in an imaginary world where he is going to make big gains,” continued the PQ leader.
Three years ago, on the eve of the federal election that would return Justin Trudeau to power for a minority mandate, François Legault offered former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole tacit support by urging Quebecers to be “wary” of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Justin Trudeau’s party is having a difficult time in the polls, while Pierre Poilievre’s CPC is dominating opinion polls everywhere except in Quebec.