Return to Parliament
MPs returned to Ottawa on September 16th to begin a new Parliamentary session which started off with a bang; mainly due to some key events that occurred during the summer recess…
In June, the Liberals lost a by-election in a riding they had considered “safe” — Toronto St. Paul’s. They Liberals were quick to dismiss and minimize this blow however with two more key votes to come, they were scrambling.
Two more by-elections were set to take place; in Quebec (LaSalle–Émard–Verdun – another Liberal fortress) and Manitoba (Elmwood-Transcona – a safe NDP seat held by the Blaikie family for decades). When the final by-election results rolled in (the same day Parliament resumed), the Liberals had lost their Quebec seat to the Bloc and the NDP (barely) kept their Manitoba seat.
Desperate to keep their seat on the Prairies and hopeful that they might be successful in Quebec, Jagmeet Singh suddenly declared he had “ripped up” the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) that he’d held with the Liberals for the last two years. This left Justin Trudeau – theoretically – in the minority government situation Canadians had chosen.
Given that the Liberal government could be toppled any time, Conservatives promised to give the NDP leader the opportunity to prove he was no longer going to prop up Justin Trudeau.
Having been assigned two out of their allotted five Opposition Day motions within one week, the Official Opposition made them both motions of non-confidence. However this time the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP voted with the Liberal government, once again derailing attempts to force a federal election.
With these power struggles at play, the first few weeks of this Parliamentary sitting have been heated. Exchanges during Question Period have been tense and many barbs have been thrown from all sides. Every passing day, new strategies for either toppling the government or determining how to keep it in place are being executed. This is the uncomfortable reality of a minority government that the Liberals will have to contend with until Parliament finally hits a breaking point.
It is possible that the Prime Minister may attempt to weasel out of this discomfort by proroguing Parliament – and it’s also possible the Liberal Party may use that period of time to regroup, or even hold a leadership race should Trudeau ultimately decide to step down. No matter what happens, Conservatives are ready for an election and will continue to hammer home their common sense message to Canadians: It’s time to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.
Conservatives have three more Opposition Days left until the end of the session, but it is up to the government as to when those are assigned. Stephanie and her colleagues have no problem continuing to make the case as to why it’s time to let Canadians decide at the polls.