The Conservatives have shared their latest plan to bring down the Liberal government next month.
A House of Commons committee will meet in the new year to vote on a motion of non-confidence in the government.
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.
How would it work?
Parliament is currently in its six-week winter break. Until its return in late January, MPs will not be able to vote on any motions in the House of Commons.
But House of Commons standing committees can call meetings even when Parliament is on break.
WATCH | Conservatives unveil plan to topple government:
Conservative MP John Williamson, who chairs the standing committee on public accounts, said in a post on X on Friday that he would convene the committee on Jan. 7 to vote on a motion of non-confidence in the Liberal government.
The idea is to get the ball rolling before the House returns, so that if the motion were to pass in committee, Williamson would be able to introduce the results — along with a recommendation that the House has no confidence in the prime minister and the government — to the House of Commons the day it returns from winter break on Jan. 27.
The non-confidence motion could then be voted on as early as Jan. 30.
“If adopted by the House, it will be a clear expression of non-confidence in Justin Trudeau’s government,” a Conservative news release said on Friday.
Conservatives prepared for a filibuster
The Williamson-led panel has five Liberal MPs, four Conservative MPs, and one each from the NDP and the Bloc Québécois.
The chair votes only in the case of a tie. Committee members are allowed to abstain from voting.
It’s possible that some or all of the Liberal MPs on the panel could conduct a filibuster to delay or prevent the passage of the motion by using a number of tactics.
Should that happen, Williamson said he is prepared to schedule committee meetings throughout January to force a vote to happen quickly.
Why choose this route?
Three non-confidence motions brought by the Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, failed in the fall.
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 non-confidence vote. It’s just a matter of when the vote occurs and which party brings it forward.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has said he would present a motion of non-confidence after the House returns from the winter break, but he did not say how his party would vote on motions introduced by other parties. All opposition parties would need to back a single motion to bring down the government.
Singh could opt instead to wait for the NDP’s own opportunity to craft the wording over the key vote, which would allow New Democrats to claim credit for toppling the government should his motion pass.
WATCH | Trudeau quiet as NDP vows to bring down government:
That NDP opposition day vote, one of seven divided up among the opposition parties and scheduled by the governing party, would have to take place by March 26, according to House of Commons standing orders.
But the Conservatives say why wait?
In their Friday news release, the Conservatives said Singh should be prepared to live up to his promise to bring down the government by supporting an earlier motion.
Paul Martin faced non-confidence vote
This isn’t the first time the Conservative Party has attempted to use a House committee to bring down the federal government.
In May 2005, the House of Commons narrowly passed a motion similar to the one the Conservatives are planning to put forward in the new year.
Former prime minister Paul Martin’s Liberal government had been limping along, plagued by a corruption scandal. The Conservative motion called on a parliamentary committee to “recommend the government resign.” It passed 153 to 150.
But the Liberal government said it would not accept the non-confidence vote as binding.
Martin called it a procedural vote that did not constitute a real vote of non-confidence in the government, and he refused to dissolve government on account of the motion.
Although this particular motion did not bring down Martin’s government, opposition parties united to topple the government just a few months later, on Nov. 28, 2005.
WATCH | Paul Martin’s Liberals lose non-confidence vote:
What if the PM prorogues Parliament?
If Trudeau decides he would like more time to consider his options, he could ask the Governor General to prorogue Parliament, which would formally end the current session and delay any motion of non-confidence from being put forward.
Prorogation suspends all parliamentary activity, including committee work.
It would be weeks until the return of the House, which could give Trudeau’s Liberals time to come up with a plan to win back the support of the NDP or strike a deal with the Bloc. Without all opposition parties on board, the prime minister could survive another non-confidence vote.