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Justin Trudeau government survives third no-confidence motion

The vote was brought by his main Tory rival.

Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau / X/ @JustinTrudeau and @theJagmeetSingh

Jagmeet Singh led Canada’s New Democratic Party once again bailed the minority Liberal government through its third successive no-confidence motion on Dec.9.

When the motion was out to vote, members of both the New Democratic Party and the Green Party voted against the motion to ensure that the Liberals continue to stay in power.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had declared at the start of the sitting of the House of Commons in September 2024 that he had torn the confidence and supply agreement with the Liberal government. The agreement was to provide support to the Liberals till next year.

The latest Conservatives' no-confidence motion quoted NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's criticism of the Liberals over labor issues and called on the House to agree with Singh and vote non-confidence in the government.

Jagmeet Singh, however, declared last week that he would not be supporting Poilievre in bringing down the Liberal government.

There were jeers from the Conservative benches as NDP MPs cast their votes against the motion on Dec.9 afternoon as Jagmeet Singh, absent from the House chamber during the confidence vote, cast his vote remotely.

"We're not going to vote in favor of any of their games because that's what (the Conservatives are) doing. They're playing games," Singh told reporters after the vote was tallied.

With 25 members in the House of Commons and constituting the fourth biggest party in the House after Liberals, Conservatives, and Bloc Quebecois, the NDP successfully held the limelight by voting against the no-confidence motions of the Conservatives to provide a much-needed reprieve to the Liberals.

On removal of GST

The House also voted on an NDP opposition motion calling on the government to permanently remove GST from what the New Democrats call essentials.

That motion also called on the Liberals to expand their planned 250 Canadian Dollars (US$176.32) "working Canadians rebate" to include vulnerable adults like fully retired seniors and people who rely on disability benefits. Those payments are expected to be issued this spring if the required legislation is approved.

The NDP and Greens were the only parties to vote in favor of this motion, resulting in its defeat. Liberal MP Chad Collins was the lone government member to support the NDP motion.

Though Liberals initially wanted a special package on the eve of the holiday season by combining the federal sales tax holiday and the rebate together, but were forced to introduce the GST measure in a separate bill after the NDP said it would not support the rebate unless it was expanded.

The Liberals need the support of one of three other opposition parties in the House of Commons to pass that measure into law. Jagmeet Singh, however, said he was open to negotiation.

"So, I want to see it improved. How that is done, we are very flexible, but it has to be improved. Seniors have to get it, people living with disabilities have to get it, a mom trying to raise her kid should get it," Singh said.

The proposed payments would go to all working Canadians who had an income of less than 150,000 Canadian Dollars (US$1,05,790.62) in the last year. The government estimates this would include some 18.7 million people and cost nearly 4.7 billion Canadian Dollars (US$3.31 billion).

The Conservatives after failing with three of its no-confidence motions, have now decided to introduce their final opposition motion of the sitting on Dec.10, with a vote scheduled to happen after question period.

The Tories introduced another motion that calls for the GST to be removed on the sale of new homes valued at under $1 million and calls on premiers to enact the same policy for their portion of the sales tax.

That motion will also be up for a vote after the question period on Dec.10.

The marathon voting session is set to run late on Dec.10, with a separate vote scheduled on the government's supplementary estimates.

Treasury Board President Anita Anand has asked Parliament for approval of $21.6 billion to fund programs including housing, dental care, and the national school food program.

If that does not pass, some programs could face a cash shortfall, including veteran benefits and natural disaster assistance.

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