House of Commons | The Trudeau government survives a 3rd motion of censure

(Ottawa) The Liberals survived a third vote Monday on a Conservative motion aimed at bringing down their minority government.

Unsurprisingly, they were able to count on the New Democratic Party (NDP). The leader of the political party, Jagmeet Singh, announced last week that his caucus would oppose the motion known, in parliamentary jargon, as “censorship”.

The Bloc members, as they had previously indicated, supported the motion, which was not enough for it to be ratified.

The wording of the defeated motion cited criticisms Mr. Singh has made of the Liberals since he withdrew from his party’s support and trust agreement with the Trudeau government.

A few minutes before the vote, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took advantage of question period to allude to the upcoming vote in a joke addressed to the government, but especially to the New Democrats.

As he did last Thursday, Mr. Poilievre repeated, all smiles, that his approach was part of “a non-partisan spirit,” which again sparked laughter in the House.

The Conservative leader said last week that if Mr. Singh’s vote against materialized, it would mean “that he does not take responsibility for his own record” and that he “does not want voters to be able to judge [ce dernier] and his plans. “Because he fears [que les électeurs] will deliver a verdict that is not favorable to him,” the conservative leader said.

However, Mr. Singh justified his decision by arguing that giving support to the Conservatives would amount to endorsing possible cuts in programs “that people need”.

After the rejection of the Conservative proposal, an overwhelming majority of elected officials also defeated an NDP motion asking the government to expand the scope of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) holiday to “goods” that it considers to be “essential”. This includes heating, internet and cell phone bills, we read in the motion which also argues that the GST exemption should be permanent.

The text also calls for modifications to the measure proposed by the Liberals to offer a $250 check to each worker who had, in 2023, an employment income of $150,000 or less. The New Democrats particularly want retirees, “new graduates trying to enter the job market” and disabled people who are not working to also be able to receive this amount.

The New Democrats bit the dust since they could only count on the support of the two Green MPs.

GST on new homes

Before these votes took place, the Conservatives introduced a new motion calling on the government to eliminate the GST on new homes sold for less than $1 million. This fourth motion tabled by the Conservatives as part of an opposition day since September is the first that is not a “censorship” one.

The text debated on Monday, which must be voted on in the coming days, is written in such a way as to take up, in all respects, a measure that conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to implement since October if he becomes prime minister.

When making this commitment, Mr. Poilievre indicated that, to finance such a promise, he intended to reuse funds provided for in programs established by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals that he intends to abolish, including the Fund to Accelerate Construction. of housing.

“Eliminate the GST […] on new homes would be a way to stop the inflationary taxes that have made life expensive,” Mr. Poilievre said in question period on Monday

The Minister of Energy, Jonathan Wilkinson, then stood up to assert that the Conservative leader’s “plan” “increases the cost of housing”.

Sit-in

Before the official opposition presented its new motion, NDP MPs intervened on a question of privilege raised Friday by Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman regarding a demonstration that took place last week.

About a hundred demonstrators organized a sit-in on Tuesday inside the Confederation Building, one of the buildings housing MPs’ offices, to demand an embargo on the sale of arms to Israel.

The Conservatives claimed that the safety of elected officials and their staff was threatened and they criticized three New Democratic MPs for having verbally supported the participants in the sit-in.

New Democrats who spoke Monday called Ms.’s request “frivolous.”^me Lantsman and reported a completely different version of events.

“It was in no way an occupation, it was a peaceful and very short sit-in,” said the spokesperson for Mr. Singh’s troops in matters of foreign affairs, Heather McPherson, for example, specifying that she and her staff were able to move between the exterior and interior of the building “with great ease.”

She said she listened to what the protesters had to say since it is her role as an MP to listen to what Canadians are saying.

The Speaker of the House has not yet made a decision on the admissibility of the question of privilege raised by Mr.^me Lantsman.