From CBC news
It's official - the government has fallen from power, clearing the way for a spring election.
The opposition Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois came together Friday afternoon in a historic vote to say they no longer have confidence in the Conservative government. The non-confidence vote automatically sparks an election after five years of Conservative minority rule.
Former Conservative - now Independent - MP Helena Guergis and independent MP André Arthur both voted against the Liberal motion. Liberal MP Keith Martin, who is not seeking re-election, was not in the House for the vote.
After the vote, Speaker Peter Milliken addressed Stephen Harper as a member of Parliament rather than as prime minister when Harper rose to move the House adjourn. Conservative MPs left the House chamber quickly for a caucus meeting.
Harper was expected to speak in the foyer of the House of Commons within minutes of the adjournment.
"A government that breaks the rules and conceals the facts from the Canadian people does not deserve to remain in office," he said.
The motion says the House agrees with a Commons committee report tabled earlier this week that found the government in contempt of Parliament, "which is unprecedented in Canadian parliamentary history, and consequently the House has lost confidence in the Government."
NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe say they support the Liberal motion. The three parties combined have enough votes to bring down the government and plunge Canadians into an election.
Speaking for the Tories, Government House Leader John Baird said the opposition is ending the work of a Parliament that's gotten a lot done recently.
"The Liberal members over there claimed to have found that the government has done something wrong," Baird said. "What they aren't telling Canadians is that this was an opposition-stacked committee who used the tyranny of the majority to get the predetermined outcome they wanted."
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