SUDBURY, Ontario, (Reuters) – Canada’s main opposition Liberal Party yesterday vowed to bring down the minority Conservative government, leaving the fate of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the hands of other parties.
In a risky announcement that offers no guarantee of electoral success, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Harper had failed to help Canadians deal with economic crisis.
“The Liberal Party cannot support this government any further. We will hold Stephen Harper to account. We will oppose his government in Parliament,” he told cheering members of the Liberal Parliamentary caucus in Sudbury, Ontario.
The Liberals now want to bring in a non-confidence motion in the government once Parliament resumes later this month.
Provided all three opposition parties vote against the government, that would mean an election in late October or early November, a year after the last federal election.
The left-leaning opposition New Democrats, who have repeatedly said they will oppose Harper, took a cautious line.
“We’re going to wait and see exactly what the Liberals are going to table. We’re not going to jump in and speculate as to how we’ll go,” New Democrats national director Brad Lavigne told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
The leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois — no friend of Harper — will react to Ignatieff’s announcement at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) today.
Polls show the Liberals and Conservatives deadlocked at around 32 percent support, well below the 40 percent needed to guarantee a majority in the 308-seat House of Commons.
