Ottawa:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s main rival in Canada’s Parliament launched a no-confidence motion against the ruling Liberals on Tuesday, the first major test of his unpopular minority government.
Following a debate in the House of Commons, a vote on the long-pending Conservative proposal is scheduled for Wednesday.
Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is far ahead in opinion polls, is seeking an early election after the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) broke its coalition agreement with the Liberals earlier this month, raising fears that the Trudeau administration could collapse.
Opening the debate, an aggressive Poilievre launched a scathing attack on Trudeau, saying he has failed to tackle rising living costs, the housing crisis and crime, while the national debt has doubled.
He said that “after nine years of Liberal government, the promise of Canada has been broken.”
He said that if elected prime minister he would “create a practical plan to end the tax on carbon emissions, build homes, fix the budget and stop crime.”
Justin Trudeau acknowledged Canadians are facing a “really tough time” during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York on Monday evening.
“People are hurting. People are having trouble paying for groceries, rent, filling up their tanks,” he said, and “they’re hoping for a change.”
But he vowed to “continue the fight”.
At a news conference at the United Nations on Tuesday, Trudeau criticized Poilievre for suggesting that “the best way to deal with these difficult times is to cut services and programs that Canadians depend on.”
“I’m thinking about how we can best help Canadians,” he said.
Liberals hold on
The no-confidence motion is unlikely to succeed as two smaller political factions have indicated they will side with the government and vote against it.
But Poilievre has vowed to keep trying, and will be given another chance to topple the government in early October.
Trudeau came to power in 2015, and has managed to retain power by defeating Poilievre’s two predecessors in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
An agreement with the New Democratic Party to support the Liberals will see his government remain in power until the end of 2025.
But the NDP quickly pulled out of the agreement after seeing that being in coalition with the Liberals was harming its popularity.
According to a recent Angus Reid poll, the Conservatives are far ahead of the Liberals, with 43 per cent of people intending to vote, compared to 21 per cent for the ruling party. The NDP is at 19 per cent.
In Canada’s Westminster parliamentary system, the ruling party must have the confidence of the House of Commons, which means it must have the support of a majority of members.
The Liberals currently hold 153 seats, while the Conservatives have 119, the Bloc Québécois has 33 and the NDP has 25.
Political analysts speaking to AFP suggest elections will likely not take place until at least the spring of 2025.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)