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OTTAWA — Quebec Premier François Legault is calling on the Bloc Québécois to reverse course and trigger a federal election.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Legault called on Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon to “have some courage” and tell his “comrades” in Ottawa to vote for a non-confidence motion that will be put forward by the Conservatives next week.
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Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said that his party does not intend to support that motion, thus ensuring that the minority Liberals have enough votes to stay in power.
Legault expressed frustration with the high numbers of immigrants coming to his province and what he claims are “non-significant” actions from the federal government on the immigration file in recent months which he says is threatening the French language.
“Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon has to duty to stand, to be courageous and to call out Yves-Francois Blanchet,” he said.
Blanchet reacted in a statement on X said that his answer is still “no.”
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He said he is not a Conservative nor is he a Liberal or a CAQ supporter — but the leader of the Bloc. He said he is serving Quebecers according to his “sole judgement” and that the non-confidence motion does not even mention the Liberals’ failings in immigration.
Despite Blanchet previously saying that he was “reasonably confident” that he could strike a deal with the Liberals on increasing seniors’ pensions, it seems like the Bloc has not gotten any guarantees that their longstanding ask will be met by the government.
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“They know where to find us,” said a Bloc party official, speaking on background because they were not authorized to talk about private discussions between parties.
On Wednesday, Liberals and Conservatives were mostly turning their attention to the NDP, which just recently ripped their supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Jagmeet Singh should tell Canadians if he is going to “sell out again” or “trigger a carbon tax election” while Government House leader Karina Gould said that the NDP pulling out of the deal has “real and tangible consequences.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is expected to share his position on the non-confidence vote during a press availability this afternoon.
More details to come…
National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com
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