CANADA : Bloc Québécois Says It Won’t Back Tories’ Confidence Motion

 Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said his party will not vote in favour of a Conservative non-confidence motion next week, making an early election unlikely.

“Will the Bloc vote in favour of the Conservative motion next week? The answer is no,” Blanchet told reporters on Sept. 18, hours after the Tories had tabled the motion.

“The motion contains absolutely nothing. It essentially says: Do you want to replace Justin Trudeau with Pierre Poilievre? The answer is no.”

The Bloc leader added that his party is “at the service of Quebecers,” and not Conservatives. The motion tabled by the Conservative Party reads, “The House has no confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government” and will be up for vote on Sept. 25.

A successful non-confidence motion typically leads to the government dissolving Parliament. The move would bring Canada into a fall election, while a failed vote would result in Parliament carrying on as usual.

Since the Liberals currently hold 154 of the 338 seats in Parliament, they would need either the NDP’s 25 MPs or the Bloc Quebecois’ 33 representatives to vote with them for the non-confidence motion to fail. The Conservatives, who have 119 seats and have been ahead of the governing Liberals in the polls for more than a year, have been eager for an election.

The NDP has not been clear on whether it would support a non-confidence motion, with Leader Jagmeet Singh repeatedly saying the party would look at each House vote individually. Under the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals signed in March 2022, the NDP agreed to support the government in confidence matters until June 2025 in exchange for Liberal support of NDP priorities such as pharmacare and dental care, delaying the next federal election until Oct. 20, 2025.

Earlier this month, Singh announced his party is ending the agreement with the Liberal government.

Blanchet Wants Gains From Liberals

During question period, Poilievre accused the Bloc Quebecois of “abandoning” Quebecers to support the Liberal government. “Why is the Bloc propping up this expensive and centralizing government?” Poilievre asked.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded that Poilievre “believes in slogans” but did not want to help Canadians with Liberal policies like dental care and pharmacare.

Earlier in the day, Blanchet told his caucus that the party would not support a non-confidence motion unless “I get the impression that the Liberals won’t be inclined to give us what we want.” He said calling an early election could prevent his party from benefiting from the Liberals on priorities like medical assistance in dying and support for seniors.

“We will be voting on whether things are good for us or bad for us, and the government may or may not fall, that’s not what we'll be voting on,” Blanchet said.

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