The House of Commons could vote non-confidence in the Trudeau government as early as Jan. 30, a Conservative MP says.
John Williamson, the Conservative chair of the public accounts committee, said his committee will meet before the House of Commons sits again Jan. 27 and entertain a motion of non-confidence in the federal Liberals.
Williamson outlined the plan in a letter to the House of Commons which he shared on social media Friday.
“It is now clear that the Liberal government does not have the confidence of Parliament. Conservative, Bloc Quebecois, and NDP members — representing a majority of MPs — have all announced they will vote non-confidence in the Liberal government,” the letter said. “In the event Liberal members on the committee attempt to filibuster and delay the passage of this non-confidence motion, I am prepared to schedule meetings throughout January.”
He said if the motion passes in the committee it would be sent to the House of Commons Jan. 27, the first day parliament returns after the six-week Christmas break. This means it could be debated on and voted on “as early as Thursday, Jan. 30.”
The committee has five Liberal members, four Conservatives, and one each for the Bloc and NDP, meaning the motion will pass six to five if all the opposition parties vote together.
If passed, the House of Commons could vote in a “concurrence motion” to proclaim that it agrees with the non-confidence motion from the Public Accounts committee. The motion could mean that Canadians don’t have to wait for a scheduled opposition day motion for the three opposition parties to vote to trigger an election.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis thinks the non-confidence motion should pass as the NDP has now stated it would vote to trigger an election in the next sitting of parliament, between Jan. 27 and Feb. 14.
In a video posted to X, Genius said that if the Liberal’s attempt to filibuster the motion, Conservatives are prepared to have the committee sit consistently throughout January to “allow this motion to pass.”
“We are doing everything we can to bring down the Trudeau Liberal government and bring about a carbon tax election as soon as possible,” Genius said in the video.
The Conservatives put forward three failed non-confidence motions this fall.
The Bloc Quebecois announced that it would begin voting with other opposition parties to topple the Trudeau Liberal government in late October. The BQ dropped support for the government after it failed to support BQ private members’ bills to increase pensions and prevent re-bargaining dairy poultry and milk international trade agreements.
Last week was the first time NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh directly pledged that his party would vote to take down the government since the 2021 election. Singh announced that he had “ripped up” the supply and confidence agreement his party had with the liberals but, since then voted to keep Justin Trudeau in power 11 times.
Since the 2021 election, the NDP has voted confidence in the government 286 times.