MPs return as Tories look to trigger early election

Liberals say they won't delay possible confidence votes

- TONDA MACCHARLES

The Liberal government says it will not use delay tactics to avoid a parliamentary vote that could trigger an election this fall as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre goaded other opposition party leaders to help him immediately topple the Trudeau government.

House Leader Karina Gould said the government does not intend to play games to stave off until late fall any "non-confidence" motion the opposition parties might bring forward nor does it intend to formally suspend, or prorogue, Parliament in order to buy time.

Gould told the Star the government intends to conduct business as "normal as any minority Parliament can be when it comes to opposition days." That new "normal" is a House of Commons where the Liberal minority government can no longer count on the support of the NDP to survive motions of "non-confidence" in Parliament after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pulled out of a co-operation deal.

The Conservatives need all three major opposition parties to unite in order to corral a majority of votes in the Commons to bring the Liberals down.

Political rhetoric by all party leaders after their fall strategy sessions ended has been amped up, and the Conservatives — with a giant 20point lead over the Liberals — are hankering to go to the polls.

On Sunday, a day before Parliament returns for the fall sitting, Poilievre painted his political opposition colleagues as too cowardly to vote with him to bring down the government. And, he painted a doomsday scenario if the Liberals remain in power and the planned increases to their carbon pricing regime go ahead.