Trudeau Says His Government Has ‘No Interest’ In A Federal Election This Fall

The Liberals do not want a vote this fall. That was the clear message coming from Justin Trudeau during a press conference on Wednesday. Speaking firmly on the matter, he stated his government had “no interest” in seeing a Canadian election in 2020.

On Wednesday, September 9, the prime minister spoke in Toronto about the federal government’s new support for Black-owned businesses.

During the press conference, Trudeau was asked about the possibility of an election before the end of the year.

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In response, he said, “I have been very clear. The government has no interest in seeing an election this fall.”

He went on to explain that there are “real concerns” about a potential second-wave of COVID-19 right now, and his party’s focus would be on being there to "help Canadians" and "relaunch the economy."

To avoid an election, the government intends to put forward a “strong and ambitious” plan to the House of Commons to ensure confidence from other parties.

In a minority government situation, like Canada has right now, this is the “responsible thing to do,” he added.

From here, it will be up to opposition parties to decide whether or not this plan is good enough.

When Parliament reconvenes on September 23, Trudeau will be required to deliver a throne speech, outlining his party’s plans and priorities going forward.

This must garner support from at least one other party in order to avoid a no-confidence vote.

If the prime minister does not manage to secure their support, this could trigger an election in the fall — whether the Liberals like it or not.

Speaking about the same thing back in August, Trudeau explained why he thought proroguing Parliament and giving another throne speech was necessary. 

“It is obvious that the throne speech we gave eight months ago is no longer relevant to the reality Canadians are living,” he said.

“We need a mandate from this Parliament to move forward on implementing these ambitious ideals and it’s important now that we have an opportunity to debate it.”

The PM concluded his point on Wednesday by adding, “We [the Liberals] are going to stay focused on helping Canadians and I hope that the other parties will do the same.”

What happens next remains to be seen!