Canada's Liberal Minority Government Faces New Threat to Survival from Bloc Quebecois

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA-The survival of Canada's minority Liberal government faces a fresh risk with one of the main opposition parties giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau until late October to deliver certain demands or it will work with other parties to trigger a snap election.

The Bloc Quebecois, which holds the third-most seats in Canada's legislature, said its future support of the minority Liberal government is conditional on Trudeau pushing through measures, by Oct. 29, that improve pension benefits and protect certain agricultural sectors from trade treaties.

Should Trudeau fail to meet that deadline, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said his party would work with the Conservative Party -- which leads public-opinion polls by a wide margin -- and other opposition lawmakers to topple the minority government and trigger an election.

Not implementing the Bloc demands "will have demonstrated that the Liberal government is not useful to Quebec, perhaps even to Canada," Blanchet said.

Representatives for Trudeau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An election must be held in Canada no later than late October of 2025. The likelihood of a national vote before then has increased after the New Democratic Party said this month it would no longer automatically help the minority Liberals pass legislation and prop up the administration as part of a 2022 coalition pact.

The New Democrats, though, have said they wouldn't necessarily vote to defeat the Liberals on confidence motions, which in the parliamentary system the governing party needs to win to maintain power.

The Conservative Party introduced this week a no-confidence motion in the legislature, but it is destined to fail as both the Bloc and New Democrats said they would not back the Tories.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2024 13:45 ET (17:45 GMT)

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