Liberals survive confidence vote, avoiding snap election amid pandemic
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Oct 26, 2020
Canada's House of Commons on Wednesday struck down a Conservative Party motion to create an anti-corruption committee to look into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's relationship with the WE Charity thereby averting a possible call for a new election.
Trudeau has denied any role in influencing a decision to award a multi-million contract to administer the student volunteering grant program to WE Charity even as he has acknowledged that he should have recused himself from cabinet discussions on the matter given his ties to the charity.
"It's Mr. Trudeau that is making it a confidence vote because Mr. Trudeau would prefer to try and go to an election rather than (answer) questions about insider spending scandals", said O'Toole.
Calling the election was a gamble for Horgan, who faced criticism from B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson and Green Leader Sonia Furstenau for pulling the plug on his minority government.
"His designation of this vote as a confidence vote shows that he's willing to put the electoral fortunes of the Liberal Party ahead of the health, safety and well-being of Canadians", O'Toole said.
"Most Canadians would think that's unacceptable".
Before the vote, the Bloc Quebecois said it would support the Conservative motion while the Green Party indicated that its three MPs would vote against the motion.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh asks a question during question period in the House ofd Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020.
"We are voting for Canadians". "If Horgan had been focused on governance and service, he never would have called this election", said Furstenau.
"People need help right now".
Earlier in the week, CPC leader Erin O'Toole insisted that a non-confidence vote was arising exclusively because the Liberals don't want anybody looking into their dealings, and that a potential election should fall on them.
"If we look both at Horgan and south of the border, I think the lesson to be extracted from this is that as long as the Liberals are seen as addressing the segments of the population anxious about getting COVID - which is a majority - there's political opportunity for them for sure", Jedwab said.
The result would mean a gain of a dozen or more seats for the NDP, including some that had been considered unlikely for the party. We're not going to be used as an excuse or a cover.
NDP Leader John Horgan said it's been an honour and a privilege to serve as premier the last three years and that he's grateful to voters for giving him the opportunity to continue that work.
The Conservative Party proposal to create an anti-corruption committee was defeated in a 180-146 vote.
