Bloc Québécois won’t support Pierre Poilievre’s non-confidence motion

By Laura Osman and Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press on September 18, 2024.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre arrives to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Poilievre is expected to give notice of his first non-confidence motion of the fall sitting today in a challenge to the NDP to bring down the government they have said they can no longer support. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA – Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he won’t support the Conservatives in their attempt to topple the Liberal government with a non-confidence motion next week.

Blanchet says he works for Quebec, not the Conservatives.

Pierre Poilievre says his non-confidence motion will be debated next week, and a Conservative spokesperson says it will simply state the House has no confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or his government.

Now that the NDP has ended the supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals, the minority government needs to shore up support from opposition parties on a vote-by-vote basis.

The Conservatives would likely need the support of both the Bloc and the NDP to bring down the government.

Blanchet has previously indicated he is willing to vote with the Liberals on confidence motions in exchange for the government green-lighting a Bloc bill about seniors’ pensions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.