Quebec Premier Criticizes Bloc for Failing to Vote Against Liberals

September 23, 2024 TruthUSA

Quebec Premier François Legault intensified his call for the Bloc Québécois to vote against the Liberal government over the weekend. He shared a social media post criticizing the Bloc as an “accomplice” of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Legault has been urging the Bloc to vote against the Liberals in the upcoming non-confidence motion due to their refusal to grant him more immigration powers. Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet has stated that he will not support the motion to bring down the government, opting to see what gains his party can secure from the minority Liberal government.

The post on September 21, shared by Legault, was written by Vincent Desmarais, a Quebec adviser to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Desmarais previously worked with Legault.

Desmarais stated in the post, “In 2008, the Bloc chose to support a centralizing and Trudeauist party instead of defending Quebec’s interests. Today, history is repeating itself.”

The post included two photos: one from 2008 showing former Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe, then-Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, and the NDP’s Jack Layton. The photo commemorated a deal between the three parties to remove Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government.

The second image shows Blanchet shaking hands with Trudeau.

Non-Confidence Motion

Last week, Legault urged Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet to support the Conservatives in the non-confidence motion. This motion aims to topple the Liberal government.

Legault has been vocal in his criticism of Trudeau, accusing him of interfering in matters under provincial jurisdiction while neglecting to address the increasing number of asylum seekers and temporary immigrants in Quebec.

In a bid to convince Blanchet, Legault called on Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, whose party shares the goal of Quebec independence with the Bloc.

“I’m asking Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon to have the courage to request his Bloc Quebecois colleague to withdraw support from the Trudeau government next week and defend the interests of Quebecers and the Quebec nation,” Legault said last week.

Blanchet announced on September 18 that he would not support the Tories’ non-confidence motion, aiming to negotiate beneficial outcomes for Quebec from the Liberals in return for the Bloc’s support in the House of Commons.

The Bloc leader affirmed his stance shortly after, reiterating his negative position on the motion and asserting that Poilievre’s attempt to bring down the government is not solely related to immigration policies.

He also mentioned that triggering an early election might hinder the Bloc from achieving its goals with the Liberals, such as enhancing the old age security pension.

St-Pierre Plamondon has expressed his support for Blanchet’s strategy and refrained from calling on him to side with the Conservatives.

“Whether it’s Poilievre or Trudeau, we would end up with setbacks on linguistic, financial, environmental, or social fronts,” the PQ leader stated.

During the 2021 federal election campaign, Legault backed the Conservatives, emphasizing that a minority Conservative government in Ottawa would be advantageous for Quebec. He cautioned Quebec nationalists to be cautious of the Liberals and the NDP, claiming that they seek to centralize power further in Ottawa.

Earlier this year, the Conservatives recruited former Coalition Avenir Québec MNA Éric Lefebvre as a candidate.

The NDP recently terminated its supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberal government, which would have maintained the government in power until 2025 with the NDP’s support in exchange for backing key NDP initiatives.

Similar to Blanchet, Singh has announced his decision not to support the Tory’s non-confidence motion.

Singh mentioned that his party would make voting decisions on a case-by-case basis for each issue. He criticized the policies of both the Liberals and Conservatives, asserting that the NDP is the only party capable of improving healthcare and affordable housing.

Now that the Liberals have lost formal NDP support, Government House Leader Karina Gould has stated that Ottawa will collaborate with opposition parties on a “case-by-case, legislation-by-legislation” basis.

Gould did not outline the Liberal agenda for the fall session but emphasized that the government’s focus is on prioritizing Canadians in all future decisions.

If the Tories’ non-confidence motion succeeds, it could lead to the dissolution of Parliament, prompting a fall election in Canada. Conversely, a failed vote would result in the continuity of Parliament’s proceedings.

The Liberals, who currently hold 153 of the 338 seats in Parliament, require either the support of the NDP’s 25 MPs or the Bloc Quebecois’ 33 representatives to thwart the non-confidence motion.

With 119 seats, the Conservatives are eager for an early election. Current polling indicates that calling a fall election could potentially result in a Conservative majority government.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.

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