Canada: Prospect of snap election recedes as Oppn lawmaker defects to ruling Liberal Party
The ruling party is still two short of a majority to get its budget passed later this month, a vote that also counts as a confidence measure. the Liberals now have a strength of 170 in the 343-member House
Toronto: While the prospect of a potential mid-term Christmas election in Canada has not completely vanished, it has receded with an MP from the opposition Conservatives defecting to the ruling Liberal Party.
The possibility of the Government of Prime Minister Mark Carney facing a snap election had arisen as his party, with the minority in the House of Commons, did not appear to have sufficient votes to pass the budget which was presented on Tuesday. That vote, considered a confidence motion, is expected later this month.
Chris d’Entremont, the lone Conservative MP from the province of Nova Scotia, appeared with Carney on Wednesday and joined the government ranks in the House. He placed the onus of his defection on Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, as he said, “In the last number of months, I wasn’t feeling I was aligned with the ideals of what the leader of the Opposition had been talking about.”
Carney said, “This is the time for us to come together as much as possible in the interest of our country.”
Including d’Entremont, the Liberals now have a strength of 170 in the 343-member House. The government will need the support of at least one opposition party, or abstention by some of their MPs, to pass the budget. The interim leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Don Davies has said that “all options are on the table” including abstaining from the vote. The NDP has seven MPs.
However, d’Entremont also indicated there were other Conservative MPs that may join him in defecting to the ruling party. Defections have been rare in Canadian politics with just three MPs before d’Entremont changing parties in the last ten years.
A Christmas election has not been entirely ruled out, as the government’s leader in the House Steven MacKinnon told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday, “You know the math as well as I do.”
On average, a minority government in Canada lasts about 18 months. Thus, even if the Carney government survives the budget vote, it could still face elections next year. Unless, of course, there are more defections giving it majority.
