Conservative government falls on confidence vote

As was widely expected, the Conservative government fell when a non-confidence motion passed in the House of Commons Friday, sparking the country’s fourth federal election in seven years.

That means campaign buses, front lawn election signs and smiling, promise-filled politicians will be a familiar sight for the next six weeks.

The Liberal motion, citing the minority Conservative government for contempt of Parliament, passed with a historic 156-145 vote and Canadians will head to the polls in early May. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit the Governor General Saturday to ask him to dissolve the 40th Parliament.

This Conservative government is the first in Canadian history to fall on contempt charges.

The non-confidence motion stated the government is in contempt for its refusal to fully disclose the costs of its tough-on-crime agenda, corporate tax cuts and its plan to buy stealth fighter jets.

Harper read a statement after the vote, but didn’t address the contempt charges. He only referred to the budget tabled Tuesday. “There is nothing — absolutely nothing — in the budget that the opposition could not or should not support,” he said.

“Unfortunately (Liberal Leader) Michael Ignatieff and his coalition partners in the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois made it abundantly clear they already wanted to force an election.”

Harper left immediately after his statement and said he wouldn’t take questions until Saturday, after he visits Governor General David Johnston.

Ignatieff said Harper’s refusal to take questions following his statement was yet another example of his disrespect for democracy.

The Liberal leader invited voters to come into “the big red tent” and warned Canadians that if they vote for the NDP, Greens or the Bloc Quebecois they’ll “get more of the same.”

“If you want to replace the Harper government, you’ve got to vote Liberal,” he said.

Ignatieff also shrugged off suggestions of a coalition, claiming the notion is a “smoke screen” and a “ridiculous” Conservative scare tactic.

When asked about the prospect of a coalition, NDP Leader Jack Layton stressed his party does “work with other parties.”

“Our goal is to replace the Harper Conservative government, which we think has been taking the country down the wrong path,” he said.

Layton said he’s winning his battle with prostate cancer and when pushed by reporters on the state of his health added: “I could undress right here before you but I don’t think that would be in the interest of politics or good television.”

During debate before the vote, Ignatieff said replacing a government “that doesn’t respect democracy” is worth sparking an election. The Conservatives also took shots at opposition parties, claiming they aren’t respecting the “democratic will of Canadians.”

“Enough is enough,” Ignatieff said.

“We did not seek an election,” the Liberal leader said. “But if we need one to replace a government that doesn’t respect democracy with one that does, I can’t think of a more necessary election.”

Conservative House leader John Baird painted the opposition’s threat to bring down the government and spark an “unnecessary election” as “reckless”.

Ignatieff plans to kick off his official campaign on Parliament Hill and will then head to Montreal. NDP Leader Jack Layton will launch his campaign with a rally in Edmonton on Saturday, but it’s not known yet where Harper plans to officially launch his bid to remain P.M. Reports suggest he’ll start off in the capital.

Earlier this week, Harper chided the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois for threatening to force an election during such precarious times, with a fragile economic recovery and turmoil in the Middle East. His warning came despite the fact he dissolved Parliament in 2008, just as the country headed into a recession.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, the opposition parties unanimously panned the Conservatives’ budget.

During this election, the Liberals are expected to insist to voters that the Conservatives can’t be trusted and that Harper is a hypocrite. The Conservatives will likely push the prospect of a Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition — Conservative MPs mentioned “coalition” 18 times during Thursday’s Question Period and Conservative ads have alluded to an alliance. 

“The real scandal here is that the Liberal-led coalition with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois won’t even accept the democratic will of Canadians,” Baird said Thursday.

The Conservatives used a similar tactic when a Liberal-NDP alliance threatened the minority government in 2008. As the threat of a coalition loomed Harper prorogued Parliament just after the election, avoiding a non-confidence vote.

Layton and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe have been quick to point out that it was Harper who came to them in 2004 talking of a coalition to defeat Paul Martin’s minority government ahead of its Throne Speech.

The Conservatives have been airing ads for the past few months touting their Economic Action Plan and replaced “Government of Canada” with the term “Harper government” in press releases.

With files from The Canadian Press.