CBC News
Posted: Mar 23, 2011 9:14 AM ET
Last Updated: Mar 23, 2011 3:26 PM ET
Leaders Beginning of Story Content
With the government unwilling to amend its budget, all three opposition leaders said they are prepared to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government on a motion of non-confidence Friday.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday his party would introduce the motion later in the day and NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe both said they would support it.
Ignatieff said Harper has shown a "flagrant disregard" for democracy and failed on its economic agenda, and as a result, "the moment has come" for Canadians to make a choice between the Liberals and Conservatives.
The motion calls on MPs to support the findings of a committee report released Monday that found the Conservatives in contempt of Parliament for not supplying sufficient information on cost estimates for crime bills, the F-35 fighter jet procurement and corporate tax cuts.
Ignatieff said the motion is focused on the contempt issue but that the Liberals also reject the government's management of the economy and its spending choices, and he expects that to be a main issue in an election campaign.
"This government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons of Canada on its economic agenda, that's what happened," said Ignatieff, surrounded by MPs from his caucus in the foyer of the House of Commons. "We will fight them on the economy and we will win on the economy."
Following Ignatieff's announcement, NDP Leader Jack Layton said he's still open to working with the government on passing the budget, but that Harper has rejected his offer.
If the prime minister wants to avoid an election, as he says he does, Harper would be willing to talk to him about amendments to the budget, the NDP leader suggested.
Harper and Flaherty have rejected the idea of making changes to its fiscal plan.
"I don't know why. What's the big obstacle to that?" Layton said. He said he thinks Canadians would prefer to see the parties cooperate, but if Harper "simply wants to slam the door on the notion of working together" his party will support the Liberal motion on Friday.
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe told reporters his party would help bring down the Harper government at the earliest opportunity.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill March 23. Adrian Wyld/Canadian PressBefore the three opposition leaders all spoke, Harper defended his government's budget and said the opposition parties did not give it a chance."I'm disappointed (the other leaders) didn't take the time to read the budget before they rushed to their conclusions," Harper said.
He urged them to reconsider their positions and support the budget instead of forcing "an unnecessary" election.
"It is not too late for them to step back, to think about the fragile global recovery and to listen to the strong support of the many organizations and the Canadian public for these measures," he said.
The prime minister highlighted some of the budget measures he said the opposition parties would "toss away" if they pull the plug on the government, including a range of tax credits for volunteer firefighters, caregivers and children's arts programs as well as initiatives to create jobs and further the country's economic recovery.
"The opposition parties have a choice between two priorities: their ambition for an unnecessary election or our important measures to support Canadians and the economy," said Harper.
If the government loses a vote of a non-confidence on Friday, the prime minister is prepared to head to Rideau Hall on Saturday to ask Gov. Gen. David Johnston to disolve Parliament and issue a writ of election, CBC News has learned. An election campaign would begin immediately, with a likely election date of Monday, May 2.
Asked Wednesday whether he would pre-empt a non-confidence motion by the Liberals by going to the Governor General himself, Harper said, "Our priority is the economy and we'll continue... as long as we're in office."
When a campaign is launched, the opposition parties will be forced to answer questions on whether they would be willing to form a coalition, should an election return Harper to power with another minority government. They were also asked about it on Wednesday.
Ignatieff avoided answering the question directly. "There's a blue (Conserverative) door and there's a red (Liberal) door and we'll form a Liberal government. Is that clear enough for you?" was Ignatieff's response.
Layton said he fully expects "fear-mongering" from Harper about a coalition during a campaign and he said he'd be sure to remind Canadians that Harper himself instigated talks with the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP when he was opposition leader and Paul Martin had just been elected Liberal prime minister.
Layton said he has always reached out to other parties to try to get his party's ideas implemented, and he will continue to do that. "We'll sit down and talk to the other parties to see what the best way of moving forward, the proposals that we made to Canadians during the campaign, and we'll seek some way to work with the other parties," said Layton. "So we are not rejecting any approach in terms of resolving those issues."
The NDP leader, who has cancer and is recovering from hip surgery, said his doctors are "happy with how things are going."
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