Paul O’Brien Leaves the Liberal Party: New Election Call?

MP Pat O’Brien announces at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday that he is quitting the Liberal Party to sit as an independent.

Liberal MP Pat O’Brien announced Monday he would be leaving the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent, saying Prime Minister Paul Martin had gone back on his promise to give adequate public consultation on same-sex marriage legislation:

“They’re determined to move forward on this issue, and you can see how and what a rush they are [in] to do that,” Mr. O’Brien said at a morning press conference on Monday.

“I can’t accept that in good conscience, so I leave the party with some regret, but my objective remains (to) defeat Bill C-38. Hopefully I can be more successful as an independent than I was as a Liberal.”

Mr. O’Brien, who represents the Ontario riding of London–Fanshawe, had threatened to jump ship in April if public consultation were not sought by the legislative committee studying the same-sex marriage bill.

So, will this new balance of power in Parliament mean a No-Confidence Vote? Remembering that the last call for an election was barely resisted by the Liberal Party.

Mr. O’Brien said Monday that he feels that the Prime Minister went back on his word and that the process to legislate same-sex marriage was “unfolding to be a farce.”

As it stands, there are 132 liberals, 98 Conservatives, 54 Bloc, 19 NDP, and four independents in the House. The second reading of the bill passed 164-137. At the time, only 35 Liberal members voted against the bill, which was supported by both the Bloc and the NDP.

If Mr. O’Brien wanted to defeat the bill in the House, he would have to muster nearly 15 more MPs to win. Failing that, Mr. O’Brien could only hope to force a confidence motion or hope that Mr. Martin retracted the bill.

Mr. O’Brien said he favours the latter.

So, stay tuned. Canada might have an election yet this year.

Captain Ed over at Captain’s Quarters opines:

It sounds as if O’Brien will be reluctant to support the Liberals if another no-confidence motion gets tabled in Parliament. This brings the Commons back to a 152-all tie, assuming that the Parliamentary factions line up as before. It places even more pressure on Chuck Cadman and David Kilgour now that budget issues have mostly been addressed.