Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tabled a motion of censure earlier this week. The vote on this motion could have led the country into an election, but the Bloc and the NDP decided to keep Justin Trudeau in power.
This motion of censure is part of the major campaign that the Conservative Party of Canada is leading against the carbon tax. Thus, it is fair game for the leader of the opposition to table a motion to end the reign of the Liberal government.
Normally, in a minority government context, the opposition parties try to defeat the government. But this is not currently the case in Ottawa.
A risk
The last vote of confidence that led to an election took place on March 25, 2011. The opposition parties defeated Stephen Harper’s government. The Conservative Prime Minister had a happy ending on May 2 by winning a majority government.
Probably Mr. Poilievre dreams of the same thing. To see the NDP support the PLC is one thing, but to see that the Bloc supports Justin Trudeau is surprising.
- Listen to the political meeting with Yasmine Abdelfadel and Marc-André Leclerc via QUB :
The leader of the Bloc said this to justify his position: “the very intention of going to an election to go to an election because the poll is good, I could have the same temptations as Mr. Poilievre. But I don’t have them because the issue is sound management of the State and not partisan games.
It is surprising to hear Mr. Blanchet say that the issue is “sound management of the State”, because currently, this is not the case with Justin Trudeau. So, if that’s what matters, the Bloc should have withdrawn its confidence in the Liberal government.
Strategy
For several months, the Conservatives’ strategy has been to show that the Bloc are walking hand in hand with the Liberals.
The Bloc could very well have voted with the Conservatives without the country falling into an electoral campaign, because the NDP was going to save the furniture for Mr. Trudeau.
In this context, the Bloc’s decision is quite surprising.
So, in light of the last few days, we must understand that the Bloc likes Justin Trudeau more than we might have thought and that they have fallen into the conservative trap.