Trudeau prepares to survive confidence vote in Canadian parliament By Reuters

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks set to survive a confidence vote on Wednesday after his main political rival appeared unable to muster enough support to end nine years of Liberal Party rule.

House of Commons lawmakers are due to vote at about 3:30 p.m. ET (1930 GMT) on a motion by the official opposition Conservative Party declaring no confidence in Trudeau’s minority Liberal government.

Trudeau, whose popularity has fallen amid unhappiness over rising prices and a housing crisis, became more politically vulnerable this month when the smaller New Democratic Party broke a 2022 deal to keep him in power until the 2025 elections.

The centre-right conservatives have a big lead in opinion polls ahead of an election due by the end of October 2025.

“I’m proud of this country – Canadians are proud of this country. We’re going to bring home the country we love,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in Parliament on Tuesday as he introduced the confidence motion.

The Conservatives say they want an election as soon as possible on the grounds that Canadians cannot afford a planned increase in the federal carbon tax. They also say federal spending and crime have increased under Trudeau.

Trudeau, while acknowledging the public’s unhappiness, accuses the Conservatives of playing politics rather than focusing on what people need.

Poilievre needs the support of the other two major opposition parties in Parliament to unseat Trudeau, and both have indicated they will not cooperate.

The separatist Bloc Quebecois, which is seeking independence for the province of Quebec, says it will support Trudeau in exchange for legislation to increase benefits for seniors.

The NDP, which, like the Bloc and the Liberals, is a broadly center-left movement, also says it will not vote to oust Trudeau, despite precipitating Trudeau’s current struggles by tearing up the deal with him. Polls show the NDP would be in trouble if an election were held now.

Trudeau downplayed polls showing his party’s unpopularity, saying they reflected Canadians’ frustrations with everyday life.

“People take a lot from me for understandable reasons. We’ve been here and we’ve been through all this stuff, and people look at change sometimes,” he told US TV host Stephen Colbert. on monday.