By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) -The head of a Canadian political party that has been keeping Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in power said on Friday he would present a motion of no-confidence in the government next year.
New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh made the commitment in an open letter. If all the opposition parties do vote together to bring down the minority Liberal government, Trudeau will lose power after nine years in office and an election will take place.
The House of Commons is on a winter break and a formal motion of no-confidence cannot be presented until after legislators have returned on Jan 27.
“We will put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons,” said Singh.
Trudeau, under growing pressure to quit after the shock resignation of his finance minister this week, is due to shuffle his cabinet on Friday.
A string of polls over the last 18 months show the Liberals, suffering from voter fatigue, would be badly defeated at the next election. The vote must be held by late October but Singh’s comments indicate the date could be months earlier.
Trudeau’s office was not immediately available for comment.
Before Singh made his announcement, a source close to Trudeau said the prime minister would take the Christmas break to ponder his future and was unlikely to make any announcement before January.
The Liberals only have a minority of seats in the House of Commons and rely on other parties to govern. Until now, the New Democrats have kept Trudeau in power.
“The Liberals don’t deserve another chance. That’s why the NDP will vote to bring this government down,” Singh said.
The New Democrats, who like the Liberals aim to attract the support of center-left voters, complain Trudeau is too beholden to big business.
