September 17, 2009
Election possibility looms in October
Prince George Citizen
With the Friday threat of an election all but averted, the next immediate threat to the Conservative government appears to be the first week of October.
According to the agreement Opposition leader Michael Ignatieff made with the Tories last June, the government will be bringing forward a fiscal update sometime during the week starting Sept. 28. An opposition day, said Jay Hill, MP for Prince George-Peace River, is set for three sitting days after that — somewhere between Oct. 1 and 7.
“Unfortunately, more so for Canadians than politicians, the Liberals have committed to bring forward a motion to bring down the government with their first opposition day,” said Hill. “We’re taking them at their word. (However), we only need one party to vote against the motion to allow Parliament to continue.”
The minority government had been threatened by a confidence motion scheduled for Friday. However, the Bloc announced Tuesday it will back the government in the end-of-the-week confidence vote.
The NDP will also be backing the Tories on that motion, a decision Nathan Cullen, MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, said depended on what is contained in a Tory EI bill that was introduced Wednesday.
“There’s not a particular line in the sand — a lot of this is the devil in the details,” said Cullen.
“We’ll see what the government has to offer and if they do what we’ve been asking for and help Canadians who are struggling, we’re willing to make government work.”
The Tories have said extending EI benefits to long-term workers up to 20 weeks is among the changes they are contemplating.
