Poilievre says House should be recalled as NDP vows to vote down Liberal government
'The Liberals don't deserve another chance,' NDP leader says in letter
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the House of Commons should be recalled now that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is vowing to bring forward a motion of non-confidence to take down the Liberal government.
"The Liberals don't deserve another chance," Singh wrote in an open letter on Friday. "That's why the NDP will vote to bring this government down."
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Poilievre said the House shouldn't wait until it comes back from the winter break in January.
I have written the Governor General confirming that the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the House and that Parliament must be recalled to hold a vote before the end of the year on triggering an Axe The Tax election. <br><br>I am asking the NDP leader to match his actions to… <a href="https://t.co/W0N0GNzbU6">pic.twitter.com/W0N0GNzbU6</a>
—@PierrePoilievre"I will be writing the Governor General asking her to urgently reconvene Parliament and require a non-confidence vote so the prime minister can judge whether he stays in power," he said.
It's unlikely that Governor General Mary 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.
Singh's letter comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes up his front bench in the wake of Chrystia Freeland's sudden resignation from cabinet on Monday.
Justin Trudeau failed in the biggest job a Prime Minister has: to work for people, not the powerful.<br><br>The NDP will vote to bring this government down, and give Canadians a chance to vote for a government who will work for them. <a href="https://t.co/uqklF6RrUX">pic.twitter.com/uqklF6RrUX</a>
—@theJagmeetSinghTrudeau spoke to reporters following a cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon. He said the meeting was entirely focused on Canada-U.S. relations in the wake of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's recent tariff threats.
"We know how important it is that we be there, not just to protect the Canadian economy, but their jobs … we have a lot of work to do and that's what we're focused on," he said.
It was the first time the prime minister had spoken to journalists since Freeland's resignation. He didn't take any questions.
Singh called on Trudeau to resign after Freeland quit, but he hadn't been clear about whether his party would vote to bring down the Liberals until Friday.
For the past few days, Singh has said he did not want to commit himself to any one course of action and would not promise to help take down Trudeau's government.
He said that after NDP House Leader Peter Julian told CBC News Network's Power & Politics on Monday that the party would vote to bring down the government in the coming months.
After backing out of a governance agreement with the Liberals this fall, the NDP has voted with the government on a number of confidence motions over the past few months. The most recent confidence motion came in early December, when the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voted to topple the government.
Poilievre criticized Singh for not voting down the government earlier — specifically when the Conservatives put forward a motion using Singh's own criticism of the Liberals.
"Just 11 days ago you voted against a non-confidence motion filled with your own words. Had you voted the other way, we'd be almost half-way through the election now," Poilievre said in a response to Singh's letter on X, formerly Twitter.
Singh said in his letter that he would introduce his own confidence motion when the House of Commons meets in the new year. It's not clear when that would happen or if he would support one of the other opposition parties' motions.
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 response to Singh's letter, 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.
Trudeau has been facing calls to resign from within his own party over the past few months. That push has gained momentum since Freeland stepped down.
On Friday, Toronto MP Rob Oliphant became the latest to add his name to the list of more than a dozen Liberal MPs who have called publicly for Trudeau to step aside and let someone else take on the party leadership.
"People have kind of stopped listening to our party and I want them to listen again, perhaps with a new fresh voice and a new face," he told CBC News Network's Power & Politics.
Oliphant said he decided to speak out after meeting with members of his riding association. He characterized Friday's shuffle as setting up a "caretaker cabinet."
"I looked at my colleagues that have been put into cabinet and I wish them well," he said.
"But I think the clock is ticking on this government and so we need to have some careful management of both our agenda and our program, as well as making sure we're in a good position to elect the best leader."
Another MP from the GTA, Ali Ehsassi, told Power & Politics on Friday that he thinks the Liberals need a new leader.
"I appreciate full well that it's [Trudeau's] decision but I think everything we've been hearing for the past four or five months, and everything we've been seeing, indicates that Canadians do like to see change," Ehsassi told guest host John Paul Tasker.
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