Bloc will try to force an election unless Justin Trudeau, Bill Morneau and Katie Telford resign

OTTAWA—The Bloc Québécois will try to topple the Liberal minority government and trigger a federal election this fall unless Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his chief of staff and finance minister resign.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet laid down the ultimatum Wednesday on Parliament Hill, telling reporters that his party has lost faith in the current leadership of the federal government amidst huge spending during the COVID-19 pandemic and the WE Charity scandal.

He said the Bloc will table a no-confidence motion in the House of Commons at its earliest opportunity — which he said would come in October — unless Trudeau, Finance Minister Bill Morneau, and Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford all step down.

The motion would need the support of the opposition Conservatives and New Democrats for a majority of MPs to declare the House has lost confidence in the government. According to convention, the Governor General would then call an election or give the opposition the chance to win the confidence of the House.

“Which is worse — keeping them and this government in place, or creating a temporary distortion in the management of the crisis?” Blanchet responded when asked about his willingness to trigger a vote during the pandemic.

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment Wednesday on Blanchet’s ultimatum.

The Liberals have been rocked by controversy since late June, when the government announced it had outsourced the multimillion-dollar Canada Student Service Grant program to WE Charity, a Toronto-based organization that has paid members of Trudeau’s family tens of thousands of dollars in fees and expenses. Morneau’s daughter also works for the organization, and the finance minister revealed in July that he had repaid the charity more than $41,000 for trips he took to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017.

Trudeau and Morneau both participated in the cabinet decision on May 22 to award the grant program to WE Charity, and later apologized for doing so. They are now being investigated by the House of Commons ethics commissioner.

Trudeau has previously broken the Commons’ ethics law twice as prime minister.

Speaking Wednesday, Blanchet said the conflict of interest scandal is just one reason his party wants Trudeau, Morneau and Telford to resign. He also pointed to how the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation outsourced administration of the government’s COVID-19 rent assistance program to a private company for which Telford’s husband is executive vice-president.

Blanchet also criticized the Liberal Party of Canada for applying for and receiving public money through the government’s emergency wage subsidy (which the New Democratic and Conservative parties are also receiving).

He said the Bloc has not discussed triggering an election with the other opposition parties.

Even if the Bloc tables a confidence motion, it’s not clear it would succeed in the House. The Conservatives have called for Trudeau’s resignation too, but that party is in the final days of a leadership race. Conservative spokesperson Keslie Chiasson said Wednesday that the party’s current leader, Andrew Scheer, has already said it will be up to his successor to decide whether to declare non-confidence in the Liberal government.

Loading…

Loading…Loading…Loading…Loading…Loading…

Meanwhile, the NDP said Wednesday that it will keep trying to work in the minority parliament. In a written statement, the party said the government “needs to earn the confidence of Canadians” by working with New Democrats to improve Employment Insurance and make sure children are safe as schools and daycares reopen during the pandemic.

“Those are the things we will be fighting for and be looking for as we continue to try to make parliament work. Just like we have been throughout the minority parliament,” the NDP said.

The Greens, who hold three of the 338 seats in the Commons, rejected the idea of an election during a pandemic. Posting on social media, interim leader Jo-Ann Roberts said “threatening an election during a pandemic is irresponsible” and called for changes to elections law to protect health and safety before the next federal vote.