Conservatives to move non-confidence motion against Liberal government in the new year
MPs in the House could vote on motion of non-confidence as early as Jan. 30
The Conservatives say they will move a motion of non-confidence in the federal Liberal government in the new year.
If all goes according to the Conservatives' plan, MPs in the House of Commons could be voting on a motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government as early as Jan. 30.
In a letter posted to X on Friday, Conservative MP John Williamson, who chairs the standing committee on public accounts, said the committee will meet on Jan. 7 to consider a motion of non-confidence in the government.
Williamson said he will introduce the result of the committee's non-confidence vote to the House on Jan. 27, when Parliament returns from its six-week winter break.
In a news release on Friday, the Conservative Party said it will also move a "simple and straightforward motion" once the House returns, stating that the committee report to the House will make the following recommendation: that the House has no confidence in the prime minister and the Liberal government.
If the motion passes, this opens the door for all MPs to debate a non-confidence motion in the House as early as Jan. 30.
"The Government no longer commands the confidence of Parliament," Williamson wrote on Friday.
He went on to say that parliamentary committees "are a microcosm of the House of Commons," making it appropriate for its members to begin these non-confidence deliberations while Parliament is adjourned.
Should the Liberal members of the committee attempt to filibuster and delay the passage of the non-confidence motion, Williamson said he is prepared to schedule committee meetings throughout January.
Opposition parties ready to topple government
Three non-confidence motions brought by the Conservatives failed in the fall.
However, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh now says he is ready to bring down the government in such a vote, following former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland's surprise resignation from cabinet on Dec. 16.
"The NDP is prepared to support a committee-level non-confidence statement that describes how the Liberals let Canadians down," NDP House Leader Peter Julian said in a statement on Friday.
"In the past non-confidence motions passed at committee have not worked, so we will be ready with our own motion of non-confidence.
"The NDP motion will send Canadians to the polls where they will have a choice between the Conservatives' plan to cut in order to give more to CEOs or Jagmeet Singh's plan to fix health care, build homes people can afford and bring down the price of essentials — Canada's first real government for the working class."
Last week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters that the House shouldn't wait until it comes back from the winter break in January.
He shared a letter he sent to Governor General Mary Simon asking her to "urgently reconvene Parliament and require a non-confidence vote so the prime minister can judge whether he stays in power."
It's unlikely that Simon can do what Poilievre is asking her to do. The House currently stands adjourned but is still in session. According to House of Commons rules, it's up to the Speaker to recall MPs when the House is adjourned. The Governor General also has no authority to dictate the House of Commons' agenda.
But with all three of the main opposition parties now saying they want the government to fall, the Liberals are almost certain to lose the next confidence vote.
In a statement Friday morning, the Conservatives said Singh should support their motion for an earlier vote and be prepared to live up to his words.
Nothing guarantees Williamson's move will survive committee or pass in a final vote, and Singh could opt to instead wait for the NDP's own opportunity to craft the wording over the key vote, then try to claim credit for toppling the government should his motion pass.
That NDP opposition day vote, one of seven divided up among the opposition parties and scheduled by the governing party, would have to take place by March 26, according to House of Commons standing orders.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said a confidence vote must happen as soon as possible in order to trigger an election in early 2025.
"It must be understood that there is no scenario in which Justin Trudeau's Liberal government ... will survive budgets, throne speeches or opposition days," he wrote in a French social media post.
Some Liberal MPs call for leadership change
As the pressure mounts on the Liberals, some MPs are making public their calls for Trudeau to step down as leader. To date, more than 20 Liberal MPs have publicly urged Trudeau to resign — with most coming forward after Freeland's shock resignation from cabinet.
Last week at a virtual meeting of the Ontario Liberal caucus, more than 50 Ontario Liberal MPs came to a consensus that Trudeau needs to step down as party leader, multiple sources told CBC News.
On Friday, Alberta Liberal MP George Chahal sent two emails — one to the entire Liberal caucus calling for Trudeau to step down immediately and another to the Liberal Party president to begin planning for a leadership change.
"As we are in the final year prior to a fixed election date, in a minority situation where the other parties have indicated they may defeat the government, I would urge the LPC board to immediately plan for a leadership regardless of [Trudeau's] formal resignation," Chahal wrote to Liberal Party president Sachit Mehra.
"It is my view that it would be political negligence by the LPC board not to plan for the race. It is clear now the Leader of the Liberal Party no longer has the confidence of his parliamentary caucus and the vast majority of Canadians."
In an interview with CBC News Calgary, Chahal said he has been calling for a change behind closed doors "for the better part of a year," but now "time is of the essence" for the Liberals.
"I'm hoping with new leadership at the helm of the Liberal Party of Canada, we can continue to bring forward new ideas to deal with the challenges that we have in front of us," he said Friday evening.
Party needs 'real leadership race'
Whispers of who would be Trudeau's successor as Liberal leader have been growing louder in recent weeks since Freeland's resignation as deputy prime minister and finance minister.
A small number of Liberal MPs have publicly thrown their support behind Freeland as party leader. Names such as newly appointed Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney have also been floating around political circles.
"By design or by circumstance, her time of resignation has put her into the spotlight. And she appears to be the person around whom the caucus members can rally behind," Ontario Liberal MP Chandra Arya told CBC's Power & Politics last week.
Gerald Butts, Trudeau's former principal secretary, said the next election will probably come sooner rather than later next year — and he doesn't think Trudeau will be leading the party into it.
In a Substack post on Friday, he wrote that the turmoil in the Liberal government makes it even more likely that the Conservatives will form a majority government.
A close associate of Carney, Butts argues that capitalizing on the "sensation" brought by Freeland's resignation and defaulting to her as the next party leader is "bad strategy" and that the only way forward for the Liberals is "a real leadership race."
"Competitions create better competitors. In politics, leadership campaigns make for better general election campaign teams," Butts wrote.
With an imminent motion of non-confidence, growing pressure from within Trudeau's own caucus to resign and an election that must take place on or before Oct. 20, 2025, the new year holds more questions than answers about the future of the Liberal Party.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Darren Major and The Canadian Press