Trudeau survives no-confidence vote as popularity wanes

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has survived a vote of no confidence in the first major test for his minority Liberal government.

TOPSHOT - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron to his private residence in Ottawa, Canada, on September 25, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has survived a vote of no confidence in the first major test for his minority Liberal government, whose popularity has waned after nine years in office.

His tenuous grip on power, however, faces more challenges in the coming weeks, with the opposition Conservatives vowing to try again to topple the government as early as Tuesday.

Following a debate during which MPs traded insults and slammed their fists on desks, they voted 211 to 120 on Wednesday against the Conservative motion to unseat the Liberals.

Far ahead in opinion polls, Tory leader Pierre Poilievre, 45, has been itching for a snap election since the leftist New Democratic Party earlier this month tore up a coalition agreement with the Liberals, leaving the Trudeau administration vulnerable to being toppled. A combative Mr Poilievre railed against Mr Trudeau, 52, for what he said was a failure to address soaring costs of living, a housing crisis and crime, while doubling the national debt.

The promise of Canada, “after nine years of Liberal government, is broken”, he said during a House of Commons debate on Tuesday. But other opposition parties, whose support is needed to bring down the Liberals, have pushed back against his right-wing agenda. After the vote, Liberal House leader Karina Gould accused the Tories of “playing games”. “We are going to get back to work and do the hard work of governing this country,” she added.

Immediately following the no-confidence vote, the NDP again sided with the Liberals to pass legislation on capital gains taxes, averting another political crisis.

Mr Poilievre vowed to keep trying, with the next opportunity to bring down the government to be presented next week. If that fails, he will have a few more chances before the end of the year.

The separatist Bloc Quebecois has also demanded concessions from the ruling Liberals for its continued support in parliament beyond the end of October.

The Liberals have 153 seats, versus 119 for the Conservatives, 33 for the Bloc Quebecois, and the NDP’s 25 in the Commons.

Mr Trudeau swept to power in 2015, and has managed to hold on by defeating two of Mr Poilievre’s predecessors in 2019 and 2021 ballots. But he has faced a number of setbacks in recent months, including by-election losses in two of his party’s strongholds.

During an appearance in New York on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert TV program on Monday, Mr Trudeau acknowledged that Canadians are facing “a really tough time”. “People are hurting. People are having trouble paying for groceries, paying for rent, filling up the tank,” he said, and “are looking at change”.

The deal with the NDP to prop up the Liberals would have kept his government in office until late 2025. But the NDP, seeing its alignment with the Liberals hurting its own popularity, exited the pact early.

According to an Angus Reid poll, the Conservatives are well ahead of the Liberals, with 43 per cent of voting intention against 21 per cent for the ruling party. The NDP is at 19 per cent.

AFP