Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Survives No-Confidence Vote as Political Pressure Mounts

Ottawa: In a big relief, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau survived a vote of confidence on Wednesday, September 25, as his main political rival failed to gather enough support to end the 'nine years of Liberal Party' rule.

The Legislators in the House of Commons voted 211-120 to defeat the motion by the official opposition Conservative Party declaring a lack of confidence in Trudeau's Liberal government.

Poilievre, the Conservative leader proposed no-confidence on Tuesday, after a debate in the Parliament where he criticised Trudeau for failing to address pressing issues such as high living costs, the housing crisis, and rising crime rates in the country.

Amid these concerns, Trudeau's popularity has slumped and became more politically vulnerable this month after the smaller New Democratic Party ended up the '2022 deal' to keep him in power until an election scheduled for October 2025.

Karina Gould, the senior Liberal in charge of government business in the House said, "Today was a good day for the country because I don't think Canadians want an election."

This comes as despite surviving the vote, several other challenges continue to loom for Trudeau.

The Liberals are soon expected to face a second vote on one of its budget measures, which is also said to be a matter of confidence, but are likely to survive that also.

According to officials, the vote could take place on Wednesday or Thursday.

"We are going to work piece of legislation by piece of legislation, issue by issue, negotiating with the different political parties," Gould told reporters.

The right-of-centre Conservatives have a big lead in the opinion polls ahead of an election that must be called by the end of October 2025.

'Enough is Enough'

The proposal of no confidence comes as the Conservatives urged for early elections stating that Canadians cannot afford a planned increase in the federal carbon tax. They also added that federal spending and crime have ballooned under the Liberals.

"Enough is enough. Costs are up, taxes are up, crime is up, and time is up," the Conservatives said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Trudeau, who has acknowledged the public unhappiness, accused the Conservatives of 'playing politics' rather than focusing on what 'people need.'

(With Inputs from Reuters)