After Conservatives now Bloc Quebecois threatens to bring down the minority Liberal government

OTTAWA (TIP): It was free for all as the House of Commons witnessed a rowdy question hour before turning down no-confidence motion 211-120 for a reprieve for the minority Liberal Government. Marred by acrimonious verbal exchanges between those supporting and opposing the motion, Speaker Greg Fergus asked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to leave the House after he refused to withdraw the “unparliamentary language he had used against the Prime Minister.

Pierre Poilievre tried to bring down the government with a non-confidence motion. It failed when all Bloc, NDP, Green MPs, and two Independents voted against it.

“Today, we will vote to trigger a carbon tax election between the costly carbon tax coalition of NDP-Liberals … or common-sense Conservatives who will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime,” Poilievre said, making his case to the Commons in question period. “Again with the clever little performance, with the slogans he has memorized, without any solutions for Canadians,” Trudeau shot back.

“He does not care about Canadians, he cares about his political self-interest. Little performances, little rhymes and slogans — no solutions,” Trudeau said as he returned to the House today after his official visit to the United States where he attended the general assembly session of the United Nations

The speaker called it a “remarkable question period” after MPs from all sides yelled at each other and called each other names.

“There are a couple of things that are going on here today that are not acceptable,” Fergus said.

Poilievre’s day-long suspension from the House followed his calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “wacko” for supporting B.C.’s past policy of decriminalizing some hard drugs in an attempt to reduce the number of overdose-related deaths.

Poilievre maintained it was a “wacko policy” backed by “this wacko prime minister.” When Speaker Fergus asked him to withdraw the “unparliamentary language,” he refused, saying that he would replace “wacko” with “extremist” or “radical.” Poilievre’s refusal prompted Fergus to remove him.

Once the Leader of Opposition was ordered out of the House, the Conservative caucus left the Commons chamber en masse, following Pierre Poilievre.

Speaker also ordered Conservative MP Rachael Thomas to withdraw from the House of Commons for ‘disregarding the authority of the chair.’ Thomas was heard saying ‘The chair is acting in a disgraceful manner.’

It was not Pierre Poilievre alone who was cautioned by the Speaker. Even the Prime Minister was also mentioned. During question hour, Justin Trudeau said at one point that Poilievre was a “spineless” leader. This remark did result in a rebuke from Fergus. The Speaker told Trudeau not to make comments that “call into question the character of an individual member of Parliament.”

“Poilievre is trying to earn votes through personal attacks”, Trudeau said, after the Conservative leader raised Trudeau’s past episodes of wearing blackface.

As the verbal tirade continued, Trudeau accused Poilievre of courting “white nationalist groups” with his visit to an anti-carbon tax protest camp in the Maritimes earlier this month.

Another issue that snowballed into another exchange of barbs was the Trudeau accusing Conservatives of making homophobic comments during rowdy question hour.

Speaker Greg Fergus was asked by the Treasury Benches to investigate whether a Conservative MP made homophobic comments involving the prime minister on the floor of the House.

The incident that turned question hour into an all-out yelling match, started with a question from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre about the government’s controversial purchase of a luxury apartment for its consul general in New York.

While listing off features of the condo, including “a handcrafted copper soaking tub,” Poilievre asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau if he visited Consul General Tom Clark at the new residence on his recent trip to the U.S.

Speaker wanted that no one should speak out of turn, Trudeau quipped, “We are used to casual homophobic comments from the other side of the House.” It led to an uproar as the Opposition benches started shouting to demand that the prime minister be kicked out for unparliamentary language.

Fergus said he heard a comment but could not tell who made it. While pleading with MPs to “treat each other with the presumption of honor and respect,” he asked Trudeau to withdraw his comment.

“Standing up to bullies requires us to call them out on their crap sometimes and that’s what I will do,” Trudeau responded.

“I will happily withdraw my comment if the member who suggested that I was sharing a bathtub with Tom Clark stands up, and takes responsibility.”

After another round of yelling and calls to “kick him out,” Trudeau withdrew what he characterized as his “comment about defecating.”

Fergus then allowed Trudeau to continue with his response to the original question.

PM Justin Trudeau fielded a few more questions from Bloc and NDP MPs before he left the House after the fracas.

When the vote was taken, the result 211-120 was on the expected lines as the Liberals, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, Green and two independents voted against the motion.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet laid out a list of demands Wednesday that he said the government must fulfil by the end of October if it wants to avoid the risk of an early election.

Speaking to the media, Blanchet said the Bloc wants the government to push through a bill, C-319, that would hike Old Age Security (OAS) payouts by 10 per cent for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74. The government topped up OAS payments for seniors aged 75 and older in 2022.

Blanchet also said he wants the government to agree to pass a Bloc private member’s bill, C-282, that exempts the supply-managed farm sectors — dairy, poultry and eggs — from any future trade negotiations.

He said those demands must be met by October 29. If they are not, he said, the Bloc will start negotiations with the Conservatives and the NDP on toppling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

The Liberal government may not fall even if the Bloc pulls its support. Trudeau could convince the NDP to back him up again. The Conservatives are eager to go to an election as soon as possible and have threatened to table more non-confidence motions in the coming weeks to trigger a vote.

The Liberals hold 153 of the 338 seats in Parliament. To get to a majority of 169 MPs without Conservative support, the Liberals need either the NDP (25 MPs) or the Bloc (33 MPs) to stand with them.

The Conservatives (119 MPs) and the Bloc voting together wouldn’t be enough to bring down the government. They need the NDP’s support as well to get the no-confidence motion through.

(Prabhjot Singh, is a Toronto-based award-winning independent journalist, He was celebrated by AIPS, the international body of sports journalists, for covering ten Olympics at its centennial celebrations held at UNESCO Centre in Paris during the 2024 Olympic Games. Besides, he has written extensively about business and the financial markets, the health industry, the public and private sectors, and aviation. He has worked as a political reporter besides covering Sikh and Punjab politics. He is particularly interested in Indian Diaspora and Sikh Diaspora in particular. His work has also appeared in various international and national newspapers, magazines and journals.)