The Conservatives say they will move a motion of non-confidence in the federal Liberal government in the new year.
If all goes according to the Conservatives’ plan, MPs in the House of Commons could be voting on a motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government as early as Jan. 30.
In a letter posted to X on Friday, Conservative MP John Williamson, who chairs the standing committee on public accounts, said the committee will meet on Jan. 7 to consider a motion of non-confidence in the government.
Williamson said he will introduce the result of the committee’s non-confidence vote to the House on Jan. 27, when Parliament returns from its six-week winter break.
In a press release on Friday, the Conservative Party said it will also move a “simple and straightforward motion” once the House returns, stating that the committee report to the House will make the following recommendation: that the House has no confidence in the prime minister and the Liberal government.
If the motion passes, this opens the door for all MPs to debate a non-confidence motion in the House as early as Jan. 30.
“The Government no longer commands the confidence of Parliament,” Williamson wrote on Friday.
He went on to say that parliamentary committees “are a microcosm of the House of Commons,” making it appropriate for its members to begin these non-confidence deliberations while Parliament is adjourned.
Should the Liberal members of the committee attempt to filibuster and delay the passage of the non-confidence motion, Williamson said he is prepared to schedule committee meetings throughout January.
Opposition parties ready to topple government
Three non-confidence motions brought by the Tories failed in the fall.
However, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh now says he is ready to bring down the government in such a vote, following former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland’s surprise resignation from cabinet on Dec. 16.
In an open letter last week, Singh vowed to bring forward a motion of non-confidence to take down the Liberal government in the new year. It’s not clear when that would happen or if he would support one of the other opposition parties’ motions.
Shortly after, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters that the House shouldn’t wait until it comes back from the winter break in January.
He shared a letter he sent to Governor General Mary Simon asking her to “urgently reconvene Parliament and require a non-confidence vote so the prime minister can judge whether he stays in power.”
It’s unlikely that Simon can do what Poilievre is asking her to do. The House currently stands adjourned but is still in session.
According to House of Commons rules, it’s up to the Speaker to recall MPs when the House is adjourned. The Governor General also has no authority to dictate the House of Commons’ agenda.
But with all three of the main opposition parties now saying they want the government to fall, the Liberals are almost certain to lose the next confidence vote.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said a confidence vote must happen as soon as possible in order to trigger an election in early 2025.
“It must be understood that there is no scenario in which Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government … will survive budgets, throne speeches or opposition days,” he wrote in a French social media post.
Some Liberal MPs call for leadership change
As the pressure mounts on the Liberals, some MPs are making public their calls for Trudeau to step down as leader. To date, more than 20 Liberal MPs have publicly urged Trudeau to resign — with most coming forward after Freeland’s shock resignation from cabinet.
Last week at a virtual meeting of the Ontario Liberal caucus, more than 50 Ontario Liberal MPs came to a consensus that Trudeau needs to step down as party leader, multiple sources told CBC News.
On Friday, Alberta Liberal MP George Chahal sent two emails — one to the entire Liberal caucus calling for Trudeau to step down immediately and another to the Liberal Party president to begin planning for a leadership change. Sources confirmed to CBC News that the emails are authentic.
Since the sudden resignation of former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday, 21 Liberal MPs have called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign. Power & Politics speaks to four MPs who have joined these calls.
“As we are in the final year prior to a fixed election date, in a minority situation where the other parties have indicated they may defeat the government, I would urge the LPC board to immediately plan for a leadership regardless of [Trudeau’s] formal resignation,” Chahal wrote to Liberal Party president Sachit Mehra.
“It is my view that it would be political negligence by the LPC board not to plan for the race. It is clear now the Leader of the Liberal Party no longer has the confidence of his parliamentary caucus and the vast majority of Canadians.”
CBC News reached out to Chahal for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Whispers of who would be Trudeau’s successor as Liberal leader have been growing louder in recent weeks since Freeland’s resignation as deputy prime minister and finance minister.
A small number of Liberal MPs have publicly thrown their support behind Freeland as party leader. Names such as newly appointed Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney have also been floating around political circles.
“By design or by circumstance, her time of resignation has put her into the spotlight. And she appears to be the person around whom the caucus members can rally behind,” Ontario Liberal MP Chandra Arya told CBC’s Power & Politics last week.
Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s former principal secretary and a close supporter of Carney, argues that capitalizing on the “sensation” brought by Freeland’s resignation and defaulting to her as the next party leader is “bad strategy” and that the only way forward for the Liberal Party is “a real leadership race.”
“Competitions create better competitors. In politics, leadership campaigns make for better general election campaign teams,” he wrote on Substack on Friday.
With an imminent motion of non-confidence, growing pressure from within Trudeau’s own caucus to resign and an election that must take place on or before Oct. 20, 2025, the new year holds more questions than answers about the future of the Liberal Party.