By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks set to survive a vote of confidence on Wednesday after his main political rival appeared to fail to muster enough support to end nine years of Liberal Party rule.
Legislators in the House of Commons are due to vote at about 3.30 pm ET (1930 GMT) on a motion by the official opposition Conservative party declaring a lack of confidence in Trudeau’s minority Liberal government.
Trudeau, whose popularity has slumped amid unhappiness over rising prices and a housing crisis, became more politically vulnerable this month when the smaller New Democratic Party tore up a 2022 deal to keep him in power until the 2025 election.
The right-of-center Conservatives have a big lead in the opinion polls ahead of an election that must be called by the end of October 2025.
“I am proud of this country – Canadians are proud of this country. We are going to bring home the country we love,” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre told the House on Tuesday as he introduced the motion of confidence.
The Conservatives say they want an election as soon as possible on the grounds that Canadians cannot afford a planned increase in the federal carbon tax. They also say federal spending and crime have ballooned under Trudeau.
Trudeau, while acknowledging public unhappiness, accuses the Conservatives of playing politics rather than focusing on what people need.
Poilievre needs the backing of the other two major opposition parties in the House to bring down Trudeau and both have made clear they will not cooperate.
The separatist Bloc Quebecois, which seeks independence for the province of Quebec, says it will back Trudeau in exchange for legislation to increase benefits for seniors.
The NDP, which like the Bloc and the Liberals is a broadly center-left movement, also says it will not vote to bring Trudeau down despite precipitating Trudeau’s current struggles by tearing up its deal with him. Polls indicate the NDP would also be in trouble if an election were called now.
Trudeau played down polls showing his party’s unpopularity, saying they reflect Canadians’ frustrations with daily life.
“People are taking a lot out on me for understandable reasons. I’ve been here, and I’ve been steering us through all these things, and people are sometimes looking at change,” he told U.S. late-night television host Stephen Colbert on Monday.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Frank McGurty and Deepa Babington)
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