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Are the federal Liberals planning to bring down the Conservative government in June, triggering an election soon thereafter? Although that was one of the side-issues to come out of the Liberals’ national convention held in Vancouver last weekend, all Papineau Liberal MP Justin Trudeau is willing to say at this point is maybe yes and maybe no.
Ready ‘any time’ ― Trudeau
“Listen, I think that we in the Liberal Party really put this convention as one of the things that we wanted to get done the right way,” Trudeau, who co-chaired the convention’s organizing committee, told NPEN on Monday, the day after arriving back in Montreal on a red eye flight. “A lot of our energy has focused on getting to this point.
“Now as we go forward, we’re in a position where we’re going to be pretty much ready for an election at any time whenever it comes. I mean we won’t be able to be pushed around. We’ve got our leader confirmed, we’ve got a team that’s strong, we’ve got policies that we’re looking towards the future with, so we’re ready from hereon in.
June update crucial
“If we go in June we’d be ready in June, if we go in the fall we’ll be probably a little better prepared in the fall than we would in June. But the decision around when the Liberal Party starts to think of not supporting this government is not about whether we are ready or not. It’s whether it’s going to be necessary for Canadians. And that’s why the June update that the Conservatives will bring forward on how they’re reaching their budget targets is going to be extremely important.
“We said so from the beginning that we were going to pass the Conservative budget, but we were going to make sure that the money that they promised to spend in the right way was actually going to help Canadians. And June will be one of those moments when we will take a very good look at whether the government is living up to its obligations or not, and if not we will vote against.
Bloc and NDP support
“Now just the fact that the Liberal Party is ready to start voting against the government when they’re not respecting or doing the right thing for Canadians, it doesn’t necessarily mean the budget. It only means an election if the NDP and the Bloc Québécois also vote against the government. But the fact we are going to be able because we have a certain amount of readiness now, we’re going to be able to make the best decision for the country and hold the Conservatives to that. But when the actual election happens we don’t get to decide.”
Whether the Liberals decide to try to pull the plug on the Tories in June will depend on the government’s acceptance of Liberal demands for Employment Insurance reform. The minority government is bound by an agreement to submit its economic policies for review, one of which comes up in June. If it were not satisfactory to the Liberals, nor the other two opposition parties, the government would lose their support and fall.
Grits want new EI rules
Under current EI rules, workers require between 420 and 700 hours of work experience, depending on regional unemployment rates, before they qualify to receive EI. New workers or those returning to the workforce after a two-year absence need between 840 and 910 hours, while seeking maternity or sick benefits need at least 600 hours to be eligible.
The Liberals are seeking a 36-hour standard to increase the number of Canadians eligible to receive benefits during the economic crisis. EI, according to Trudeau, is “the number one thing that people talk to me about in the riding and these days that’s the number one thing we’re also hearing across the country.
Stimulus needed ― Trudeau
“If you want to talk about instant stimulus for people who are in economic difficulty in times like these of downturn, it’s money you put into people’s pocket when they’re busy looking for a job. After they lose a job, it goes to buy groceries, it goes to pay rent and to stimulate the economy directly.”