Tories survive first confidence vote of the fall

OTTAWA (CUP) — So will there be an election this fall? Not just yet, if the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have anything to say about it.

In the first confidence vote of the fall, both parties supported the Conservatives in passing a motion that will implement several tax breaks and provisions that were originally presented with the budget earlier this year.

“There’s an important tax change for the low-income, working poor that’s included in that bill, and these were things that we supported,” NDP leader Jack Layton told reporters, shortly after the vote in Parliament on the morning of Sept. 18.

All bills relating to spending public money are automatically considered matters of confidence.
The Liberal party announced earlier this month that they would not be supporting this ways and means motion, and would not be supporting a Conservative government.

“When you step outside the bubble of parliament and you ask simple questions like, ‘What’s happening to our country?’ [We have] a million and a half people unemployed, youth unemployment soaring, bankruptcies soaring, and a deficit that grew $5 billion over the summer,” said Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff. “I’ve got a simple job here . . . which is just to decide, as Leader of the Opposition, whether I can continue to support a government with these facts, with this situation in our country.”

“I had to stand up and say no, so that’s what we did.”

The Liberals will have their next chance to pass a non-confidence motion at the end of the month, after the Conservatives are expected to table a stimulus package update.

“The question is, ‘Is this government good enough, yes or no?’ I’ve said no, and now my job is to present Canadians with a clear alternative – and that’s what we’ll be doing,” said Ignatieff.

Ignatieff will be visiting Wilfrid Laurier University for a Liberal youth rally Saturday Sept. 19 at 3:30. The event will take place at Wilf’s.