Conservatives will table non-confidence vote, Poilievre says, challenges Singh to follow suit
Article content
OTTAWA — Put up or shut up.
That’s the message Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had Wednesday for his NDP counterpart, as MPs prepare for what’s shaping up to be an uncertain — and volatile — fall sitting for the House of Commons.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Conservatives will table non-confidence vote, Poilievre says, challenges Singh to follow suit Back to video
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“This costly coalition is called a ‘supply and confidence’ agreement,” Poilievre told reporters on Parliament Hill, referring to the recently dissolved agreement between the minority-Liberals and NDP.
“So if you’re pulling out, you have to vote non-confidence. If you don’t, you’re still in the agreement.”
It was a week ago when Singh tore up the two-year-old supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals, a pact that ensured the NDP would prop up the embattled government in exchange for programs near and dear to Singh’s platform.
With that agreement now dissolved, Poilievre says his party will table a non-confidence motion in the House as soon as possible.
“The question that Jagmeet Singh has been asked 31 times in the last week — and has refused to answer — is whether he will vote non-confidence to trigger a carbon tax election,” Poilievre said.
“Will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?”
Speaking with the Canadian Press on Wednesday, Singh’s top advisor Anne McGrath said the NDP leader isn’t eager to go to the polls.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or champing at the bit to have one,” she said. “But it can happen.”
Cratering poll numbers prompted the NDP to distance themselves from the embattled Liberals, with Singh saying last week the party will consider every confidence vote as it comes.
The Liberals, likely aware that the NDP can’t afford to go to the polls so soon after the last election, didn’t seem too bothered by last week’s news.
Both the NDP and Liberals are in the midst of their annual pre-session caucus retreats ahead of the beginning of the fall sitting, which begins Monday.
— With files from Canadian Press
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.