OTTAWA -- The federal government appears willing to go to the polls over the Conservatives proposing the creation of a new parliamentary committee to probe Liberal controversies including the WE Charity affair, though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is insisting it鈥檚 up to the opposition whether there will be a pandemic election.
鈥淚t will be up to parliamentarians and the opposition to decide whether they want to make this minority Parliament work, or whether they鈥檝e lost confidence in this government's ability to manage this pandemic," Trudeau said.
Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez declared Tuesday morning that when the motion to set up the committee that is now being debated in the House of Commons comes up for a vote, the Liberals will consider it a confidence vote.
That means, if it passes with the support of all opposition parties, then the government could fall and Trudeau could trigger a snap election in the middle of the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.
Early indications are that the Liberals will once again be looking to the NDP to back them, with the Bloc Quebecois stating this is a problem of Trudeau鈥檚 making and they鈥檒l support the Conservative motion. Though, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the brinkmanship going on is senseless.
A 'DANGEROUS' MOVE DURING COVID-19?
"The government considers this motion to be a matter of confidence. The truth is simple: MPs cannot establish a new committee with sweeping powers to investigate what they call the government corruption and assume there is no consequence,鈥� Rodriguez said, calling it 鈥渘othing more than a dangerous partisan plan鈥� in making the declaration that it鈥檒l be a confidence vote.
Rodriguez said that the lives of Canadians depend on the federal government focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, though a general election at this time would mean Parliament would shut down for at least 37 days.
Trudeau, noting that with COVID-19 cases on the rise again in Canada, said that the pandemic is 鈥渇ar from over,鈥� and that 鈥渘obody wants elections.鈥�
Rodriguez said that 鈥渢he real debate鈥� is whether Canadians want their government to keep working on the health and economic crisis facing the country, or to be seized with opposition demands.
This declaration comes on the heels of Conservative Leader Erin O鈥橳oole saying that, while he does not have confidence in the Liberal government, he is not looking to go to the polls.
In an apparent effort to avoid that outcome, O鈥橳oole is looking to make expressly clear in one of two proposed amendments to the motion that, that opposition MPs agreeing to pass this new parliamentary forum to look into alleged Liberal corruption, would not be legitimate grounds for going to the polls.
鈥淐anadians expect the truth. They deserve accountability. That's what this committee will do,鈥� O鈥橳oole told reporters Tuesday morning. 鈥淭hreatening an election rather than being accountable, for a prime minister who is already on his third personal ethics investigation? It's time for some accountability and we're going to bring that.鈥�
The Conservatives are also proposing to change the name of the proposed committee, taking 鈥渁nti-corruption鈥� out of the title, instead suggesting to call it the 鈥渟pecial committee on allegations of misuse of public funds by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic,鈥� though the Conservatives say the mandate of the committee would stay the same.
Rodriguez said changing the name of the committee does nothing to make the proposal more palatable.
鈥淚f you write a book about Frankenstein and you call it Cinderella, it鈥檚 still a book about Frankenstein,鈥� he said.
WHAT WOULD COMMITTEE EXAMINE?
If the motion passes as drafted, the committee would have the power to call Trudeau and other members of cabinet to testify, compel the disclosure of troves of documents, and dig into a handful of Conservative-alleged Liberal scandals and conflicts of interest.
It would also see the committee scheduled to meet within a week, granted 鈥渇irst claim to the priority use of House resources,鈥� and instructed to issue an interim report by February 15, 2021.
鈥淲e cannot turn our committees into partisan inquisition, to force private citizens to release personal information, where does it end?鈥� Rodriguez said, adding that if the committee is enacted it would 鈥減aralyze鈥� the government and take its focus off COVID-19.
鈥淒o we really want a committee that has the power to force the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, all ministers to drop their work, the important work they're doing and come testify?鈥� he continued, insisting the Liberals鈥� opposition to the proposal has nothing to do with dodging accountability.
However, the willingness to declare this a matter of confidence has only emboldened Conservatives who think the Liberals have something to hide by going to these lengths to try to squash further study of the government鈥檚 behaviour.
In an attempt to compromise, the Liberals have suggested the creation of a different special committee, one focused solely on the billions of dollars of federal government鈥檚 COVID-19 spending, where it鈥檚 possible tangents of these Conservative-alleged scandals could be evaluated, but other committees currently at a standstill over the WE Charity showdown, could be freed up to do other studies.
This Liberal proposal was shot down by the Conservatives.
鈥淵our government must acknowledge that it no longer enjoys a majority in the House of Commons and that it will, accordingly, begin to accept the legitimate and necessary exercise of parliamentary scrutiny without resorting to election threats, obfuscation and misdirection whenever you face the prospect of not getting your own way,鈥� Conservative House Leader
VOTE TO HAPPEN WEDNESDAY
While MPs are set to debate the motion throughout the day, it鈥檚 expected to come up for a vote on Wednesday after question period. Wednesday marks the one year anniversary of the 2019 election which saw the Liberals reduced to a minority.
The backing of both the NDP and Bloc Quebecois will be needed in order to give the Conservatives the majority of votes needed to pass this proposal given the Liberals鈥� minority standing in Parliament.
On Tuesday, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said his caucus has been suggesting some form of big committee to study the WE Charity controversy and that while it would be 鈥渋rresponsible鈥� to take this fight to the ballot box, that decision rests squarely on Trudeau鈥檚 shoulders.
Blanchet said Trudeau just doesn鈥檛 want to be responsible for triggering an election and he thinks he鈥檚 trying to provoke the opposition into voting in a way that would likely prompt, at minimum, a conversation with the Governor General about the loss of MPs鈥� confidence in the Liberals.
Speaking to the current situation, which has the country on the brink of a national campaign, Singh said it is 鈥渙utrageous鈥� and 鈥渁bsurd鈥� that Trudeau appears ready to fight an election over the opposition wanting answers about the WE affair.
鈥淟et me be very clear: the only way there is an election right now is because the prime minister chooses to have one,鈥� he said. The NDP are negotiating over possible compromises or changes to the motion, such as ensuring that whatever committee gets created has an opposition chair.
鈥淚f the Prime Minister wants an election, he should have the courage to go tell Canadians who are worried about their lives, worried about the future, worried about their jobs that 鈥榟ey, I'm going to put this country through an election because I'm worried about a committee,鈥欌�� Singh said. 鈥淚t makes no sense.鈥�
Challenged on why the Liberals apparently can鈥檛 continue to tackle COVID-19 while this probe is underway as others in cabinet have suggested, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that she can鈥檛 do her job without assurance that other MPs are supportive of the direction the Liberals are headed during this ongoing crisis.
鈥淭here is no requirement that opposition parties or opposition MPs have confidence in the government. I believe right now though, that for us to govern effectively we need to have the confidence of the House,鈥� she said, adding that she hopes she will get it especially since there are outstanding new COVID-19 financial aid promises that will need to be passed in the House before they can be extended to Canadian workers and businesses.
In a later interview on CTV鈥檚 Power Play, Rodriguez said that regardless of some calls for the Liberals to back down, the government has no intention of lifting the declaration that the motion is a matter of confidence.
