Independent MP Chuck Cadman stands with the government during confidence vote on Thursday.

The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Paul Martin barely survives a confidence vote in Parliament this afternoon. The Globe and Mail has the story here:

The Liberal government survived a crucial budget vote Thursday night by a sliver, effectively ending the possibility of a snap election and giving the governing minority a bit of breathing room to finish this session of Parliament before the summer break.

By the closest of margins, the Grits, along with the support of the NDP, and Independent MPs Chuck Cadman and Carolyn Parrish, pushed their budget with NDP amendments through, thus surviving a non-confidence motion on Bill C-48 which contained $4.6-billion in concessions for the Democrats. The final result was 152 to 152, with the Speaker breaking the tie for the government.

Read the rest of the story here.

Paul Martin survives to live another day but a tie vote in Parliament is certainly no mandate.

Now, the Liberal Party will have to govern and hope the Gomery Inquiry does not result in any further defections.

At 5:45 PM EDT there will be budget votes that the Conservatives hope will bring down Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberal Party controlled Canadian government.

Read the story from The Globe and Mail here:

Independent MP David Kilgour will vote in favour of the federal budget but against an NDP amendment, a move that backs opposition efforts to topple the government and leaves the fate of Parliament effectively in the hands of a single member.

Mr. Kilgour has said he was undecided on which way he would vote, but in recent days expressed concern about the direction of the minority Liberal government and the decision to give rookie MP Belinda Stronach a cabinet posting upon her defection from the Conservatives.

Thursday afternoon, however, Mr. Kilgour decided to follow the lead of the Conservatives and give only his support to the broader budget, but not the amendment struck as part of a Liberal deal with the NDP…

Within hours, MPs of all stripes will face off in the House of Commons to decide whether Canadians will be sent to tIhe polls just a year after their last trip to the ballot boxes to pick a government.

Flap wagers on a mid-summers election for Canada.

Stay Tuned!

Prime Minister Paul Martin shakes hands with newly designated Human Resources Minister Belinda Stronach during a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.

In a stunning development before Thursday’s anticipated vote to bring down the Liberal Party and Paul Martin’s government Conservative MP Belinda Stronach has crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party as the new Human Resources Development Minister. The Globe and Mail has the story here:

The stunning move could be a blow to the Tories’ hopes of defeating the government Thursday and triggering a federal election, because it will lower the hair-thin Conservative-Bloc Québécois lead in the seat count. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said the party was “devastated” and “betrayed.”

Prime Minister Paul Martin said he met with Ms. Stronach — who had been an outspoken and moderate Conservative — for a private dinner at 24 Sussex Dr. Monday evening and after a lengthy discussion, Ms. Stronach said she felt confident that leaving the Tories was the right decision.

“We talked about all that is at stake in Thursday’s vote on the budget and we talked most of all about what’s required to build a stronger, better future for all Canadians,” the pleased-looking Prime Minister said at a hastily scheduled press conference in Ottawa Tuesday morning, where the official announcement was made.

“We found that on critical questions of both policy and politics that we have much in common. We both believe in a centrist, balanced and moderate set of policies.”

Ms. Stronach said she struggled with the decision to leave the party she once sought to lead.

“I found myself at a crossroads,” she said, adding that she has become increasingly uncomfortable with the direction that Mr. Harper has been taking the party. “The upcoming vote forces me to make a decision. And I feel that as I evaluated my options, that you know should I leave, because I do have some different viewpoints as to how the party should grow and those are not a secret.”

Sorry, Ms. Stronach, but something smells! But, then again, what would you expect from a corrupt Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister.

Ms. Stronach has been vocal about her opposition to an election. She has said she wants to wait until Mr. Justice John Gomery releases his report on the sponsorship inquiry late in the year. Mr. Martin has promised that he will call an election within 30 days of that report being tabled.

However, Mr. Harper had not wanted to wait for the Gomery report to be released. He was gearing up for an election call after Thursday’s vote, confident that with the support of the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal government would fall.

This decision by Ms. Stonach had nothing to do with the timing of the election call and the Gomery Inquiry. It had everything to do with blind ambition, the promises of political ascendancy and the corrupting influences of the Liberal Party political machinery.

On Tuesday morning, a strained-looking Mr. Harper admitted the news had come as a shock to his party. Ms. Stronach had been an asset to the Tories because she held a high-profile Ontario seat — a province in which the Tories need to make gains in an upcoming election — and because she was well-known as a one-time leadership candidate and former head of Magna International, an auto parts company.

“I know that a number of our caucus members are feeling quite devastated, quite betrayed by this,” he said. He said Ms. Stronach had called him to let him know of her decision just before her Tuesday morning press conference.

He also admitted it will affect Thursday’s vote.

“Obviously Belinda’s actions today make the defeat of the government on Thursday much less likely. But it doesn’t in any way change the principal position that our caucus has taken on this issue. The governing party is corrupt,” he said.

Without a doubt this government and Liberal Party are corrupt.

The logistics of her switch with regards to the no confidence vote on Thursday are covered below in the Globe and Mail:

But the Opposition Leader did not leave the news conference without a parting jab at Ms. Stronach, accusing her of following her ambition rather than principles.

“There’s no grand principle involved in this decision, just ambition,” he said.

“I told my wife only a few days ago that I thought it had become obvious to Belinda that her leadership ambitions would not be reached in this party regardless of whether or not we won the next election. It will be interesting to watch her progress in the Liberal party.”

Ms. Stronach told reporters she was not interested in the Liberal leadership.

She takes over from Lucienne Robillard, who had been HRDC minister and national campaign co-chair. Ms. Robillard keeps her Intergovernmental Affairs Minister role and remains President of the Queen’s Privy Council.

The unexpected news boosts the Liberal seat count and could alter the outcome of Thursday’s budget vote.

Ms. Stronach’s move to the Liberal ranks bolsters the Liberal and NDP to 151 seats in total and decreases the Tory and Bloc numbers to 152.

There are three independent MPs in the House — Carolyn Parrish, Chuck Cadman and David Kilgour.

Ms. Parrish, a former Liberal, has said she would vote with the Liberals, which means they would need only the vote of either Mr. Cadman, a former Tory, or Mr. Kilgour, a former Liberal, to win a confidence vote.

(The Speaker would likely break a tie and would vote for the Liberals.) However, it’s still unclear which party Mr. Cadman or Mr. Kilgour will support, thus, Thursday’s outcome is not known.

Ms. Stronach represents the Ontario riding of Newmarket-Aurora. Mr. Martin said Tuesday that Martha Hall Findlay agreed to stand down as the Liberal candidate.

Ms. Stronach had served as international trade critic for the Conservatives. Mr. Harper has asked Tory MP Rona Ambrose, the party’s former intergovernmental affairs critic, to take over the portfolio.
The move by Ms. Stronach came about after she voiced her disaffections last week when she met former Ontario Liberal premier David Peterson at a public event in Toronto.

Mr. Peterson promptly called Tim Murphy, a former Ontario Liberal MPP and now the No. 1 official in the Prime Minister’s Office.

By Monday evening, Ms. Stronach and Mr. Martin were working out a deal over dinner.

After that meeting, she called deputy Tory Leader Peter MacKay, to whom she had been romantically linked, and told him what had happened.

Mr. MacKay was gobsmacked, said one of his confidants. He picked up the phone and broke the news to Mr. Harper on Tuesday morning.

Ms. Stronach was sworn in to her new cabinet post at Rideau Hall late Tuesday afternoon.
Reaction was swift and strong Tuesday after the announcement.

Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, who is preparing for the Queen’s visit later Tuesday in Regina, said he’s pleased with her decision.

“I believe that Belinda Stronach has done the right thing. I believe she’s done the right thing for Canada.”
Callers to radio talk shows and websites had mixed opinions. Some accused her of being overly ambitious, while others said it was a courageous move.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said he hopes it will mean a win for the Liberals on Thursday because the House of Commons needs to get back to governing.
And Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty refused to comment on Ms. Stronach’s defection.

Read the other links on this Tory defection:

• Politics makes estranged bedfellows
• Stronach always a liberal Conservative
• Dollar gains on Stronach move
• Martin’s statement
• Stronach’s statement
  

The Canadian Conservatives have unleashed a series of radio ads bashing the Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. The Globe and Mail has the story here:

The federal Conservatives unleashed a series of radio attack ads yesterday that declare Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberals “desperate” and mired in corruption — a tone that could carry through an election campaign anticipated to begin later this week.

The Tories are also preparing to publish their campaign platform which, The Globe and Mail has learned, will include a number of Liberal-oriented social initiatives, including a commitment to increase foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product by 2015. The pledge, along with cash for daycare and infrastructure spending, are an apparent effort by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper to prevent the Liberals from blaming his party for the death of their budget.

The Tory advertisements released yesterday accuse the Prime Minister of being willing to “do anything to hang on to power” and of “trying to avoid you, the voter.”

In one ad, a man’s voice says: “Paul Martin says ‘wait.’ For what? More waste? More corruption?”

The Tories rolled out the ads as the Prime Minister Martin pleaded for a return to civility in Parliament.

“We’ve got to find our way back to the high road,” he said yesterday in Halifax after signing a $137.3-million deal to improve child care in Nova Scotia, the fifth province to sign on…

The election season has begun early.

The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin will fall according to Reuters. Read the story here:

Canada’s minority Liberal government, under heavy pressure over a corruption scandal, looks set to lose a confidence vote next week, government and opposition officials said Friday.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has proposed Parliament vote on his budget next Thursday and says he will call an election if he loses.

The main opposition Conservative Party wants the vote immediately but indications are that whenever it is held, the Liberals have a poor chance of surviving, even though the vote will be close.

“This government is finished,” a senior member of the cabinet confided. If the Liberals fall next Thursday it would open the way to a June 27 election.

The Liberals and their left-leaning New Democrat allies have 151 seats in the 308-seat parliament, while the Conservatives and the separatist Bloc Quebecois have 153. The speaker of Parliament is a Liberal but he only votes in case of a tie. One seat is vacant.

To have any chance of winning the Liberals need the support of two independent members of Parliament, at least one of whom now says he will in all likelihood vote against the government.

“The math is very favorable … we’re confident we’re doing the right thing and that the numbers are in place,” senior Conservative legislator Vic Toews told reporters.

Even the New Democrats, who insist Parliament be kept alive long enough to pass the budget, are not holding out much hope.

When Reuters suggested to a well-placed New Democrat official that the government side looked set to lose the vote, the official replied: “I think you’re right.”

For all the Conservatives’ determination to bring down the government, polls show the electorate is in a volatile mood and there is no guarantee the party would win an election and end 12 years of Liberal power.

One Conservative member of Parliament is severely ill with cancer and is due to have an operation next Wednesday, which means he will miss the vote Thursday.

His absence would in theory give the Liberals a greater chance of survival but the New Democrats said for the sake of fairness they are ready to withdraw one of their own legislators from Parliament during the vote.

“What we are potentially doing is failing to take advantage of a sick member, and we’re simply refusing to do that,” New Democrat Member of Parliament Ed Broadbent told reporters.

If the New Democrats did withdraw a member to compensate for the missing Conservative, it would leave the Liberals with 150 seats to 152 for their opponents.

The chances of Martin surviving suffered a blow Thursday when independent legislator David Kilgour — a long-term advocate of Africa — expressed disappointment with a proposed aid package for Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.

“If (Martin) doesn’t do significantly better in the next week then he can assume that my vote’s going to be against him,” Kilgour told Reuters.

It is over!

The political game is afoot – a summer’s election for Canada.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper glares across the aisle at Prime Minister Paul Martin during Tuesday’s no-confidence vote in the House of Commons in Ottawa.

The Globe and Mail has the latest in firworks at the Canadian Parliament where the Tories are refusing to vote for adjournment:

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper moved what he deemed a no-confidence motion in the government, the second such move made by the Tories in two days.

The party is eager to bring down the government and call an election as soon as possible.
Mr. Harper said the government has “lost the moral authority and democratic legitimacy to govern this country. Madame Speaker, today is one of those more difficult days where it falls to the Leader of the Oppostion to tell the… government that they cannot carry on,” Mr. Harper said in a speech to the House Wednesday afternoon.

He said the Governor General and the Liberals should heed the result and call a general election if they lose the vote.

It passed, and the Commons was adjourned for the day.

But it wasn’t recognized by the Liberals.

It appears to be part of an opposition tactic to continue to push for a confidence motion to be recognized in the House.

On Tuesday night, the Liberals were defeated on what the Tories said was a no-confidence vote in the Commons.

But House Leader Tony Valeri has argued that Tuesday’s motion was merely procedural and therefore didn’t count.

The Liberals have offered to hold a vote on the budget, automatically a confidence motion in the government, next Thursday, May 19.

The Tories say they won’t wait that long.

These machinations have to be antagonizing the Canadian voters.

Paul Martin should step down and call an election.

Conservative MP Darrel Stinson, who is suffering from cancer, calls on the government Wednesday to respect Tuesday’s vote and resign.

Update #1

The Canadian Parliament has now adjourned for one day and will resume session on Thursday. Read the story here:

Prime Minister Paul Martin has called for a vote on the budget for next Thursday, but the Bloc Québécois and Conservatives refused to co-operate, saying they’re not prepared to wait.

Late in the day, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper — who earlier challenged the Prime Minister to either call a confidence vote for Wednesday or resign — introduced what he called another no-confidence motion. It was the second time the Tories did so in two days.

It urged that the Commons be adjourned for one day.

In doing so, the Conservatives hoped again to show that the Liberals are not capable of governing and an election should be called.
The motion passed and the House was adjourned until Thursday.

The government and oppostion MPs, now engaged in a procedural staring match over when a confidence motion will happen, did not hold back during Question Period. Attacks flew back and forth across the benches. At one point during questioning, the Tory MPs could be heard calling the Liberals “jerks.”

Mr. Martin said Mr. Harper’s moves on Wednesday had gone too far.

“I would ask him to demonstrate better judgment. He should set the example,” he said, asking for civility.

“The person that is going too far is the Prime Minister that will not uphold democracy in this House,” Mr. Harper shot back.
The Bloc also called for Mr. Martin to call a vote Wednesday or resign.

But the Prime Minister said he had good reason for delaying, saying British Columbia is holding an election on May 17 and the Queen is visiting Alberta and Saskatchewan next week.

Earlier, he made the announcement that he’d call the budget vote for May 19.

“On Thursday, May 19, I will be in Ottawa. And I am proposing that there be, on that day, a vote on the budget bill. This vote will be a matter of confidence,” Mr. Martin told reporters in Ottawa after an emergency cabinet meeting.

“I believe that Canadians want this budget passed,” Mr. Martin said, adding he believes most people want an election after the final report on the sponsorship scandal from Mr. Justice John Gomery, in December.

However, the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois are determined to force an election, and could have enough MPs to do so. The two sides are virtually in a dead heat for votes.
Should the government be defeated, the earliest date for an election would be June 27.

Mr. Martin recognized that the May 19 vote could be lost.

“If the government loses the vote next Thursday, I will seek the dissolution of this Parliament and Canadians will know that Stephen Harper and Gilles Duceppe have worked together to force an election less than one year after the last election,” Mr. Martin said.

But Tory Leader Stephen Harper said he refuses to play “games” any longer.

Both he and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said they won’t wait until May 19.

Mr. Harper said Mr. Martin is simply stalling.

“Face the nation, face parliament. If he has a vote he wants us to have, let’s have it today,” Mr. Harper said.

The NDP said Wednesday they don’t want a confidence motion and they called on the Martin government to implement changes they have asked for soon. They say they want to see the budget passed and to see parliament work, for now.

The Tories and Bloc are livid after MPs voted 153—150 in favour of a Conservative motion calling on the government to resign on Tuesday night.

The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois, who supported the move, said it clearly indicated that the Liberals had lost the confidence of the House and left them unable to effectively govern.

Independent MP Chuck Cadman was unable to attend because he underwent chemotherapy treatments this week.
The Tories also have two ill MPs–Dave Chatters and Darrel Stinson, who were flown in especially for Tuesday’s vote.

Mr. Harper implied that the Prime Minister was asking that a confidence motion on the budget be delayed on purpose because several Tories are ill. “We’re not going to play [games] another week so that he can hope the health of some members of Parliament deteriorates,” Mr. Harper said.

He was attacked for the comments by House Leader Tony Valeri.
“That’s about as low as you can get.”

Mr. Chatters and Mr. Stinson stood up in the House of Commons and asked Mr. Martin why he would not allow a vote Wednesday, given the gravity of their illnesses.

The Liberals say the vote was on a procedural matter — the motion asked the public accounts committee to rewrite a report so that it called on the government to resign — and did not represent a true measure of confidence of the Liberals’ ability to govern effectively.

The latest turn in Canada’s already volatile political situation comes as polls suggest both the Liberals and Conservatives are running neck-and-neck (31 per cent for the Tories and 27 per cent for the Grits) ahead of a potential election.

If the government fell, it would mean an election around 10 months after Canadians last went to the polls.

The Conservatives have cited outrage over damaging allegations against the Liberals at the Gomery inquiry into the federal sponsorship scandal as necessitating an election.

The Globe and Mail has the story on the contentious Question Period today:

Prime Minister Paul Martin has called for a vote on the budget for next Thursday, but the Bloc Québécois and Conservatives refused to co-operate, saying they’re not prepared to wait, and want a vote today.

The government and oppostion MPs, now engaged in a procedural staring match over when a confidence motion will happen, did not hold back during Question Period. Attacks flew back and forth across the benches. At one point during questioning, the Tory MPs could be heard calling the Liberals “jerks.”

Opposition Leader Stephen Harper challenged the Prime Minister to either call a confidence vote for today or resign.

Mr. Martin said he had gone too far.

“I would ask him to demonstrate better judgment. He should set the example,” he said, asking for civility.

“The person that is going too far is the Prime Minister that will not uphold democracy in this House,” Mr. Harper shot back.
The Bloc also called for Mr. Martin to call a vote Wednesday or resign.

But the Prime Minister said he had good reason for delaying, saying British Columbia is holding an election on May 17 and the Queen is visiting Alberta and Saskatchewan next week.

Earlier, he made the announcement that he’d call the budget vote for May 19.

“On Thursday, May 19, I will be in Ottawa. And I am proposing that there be, on that day, a vote on the budget bill. This vote will be a matter of confidence,” Mr. Martin told reporters in Ottawa after an emergency cabinet meeting.

“I believe that Canadians want this budget passed,” Mr. Martin said, adding he believes most people want an election after the final report on the sponsorship scandal from Mr. Justice John Gomery, in December.

However, the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois are determined to force an election, and could have enough MPs to do so. The two sides are virtually in a dead heat for votes.
Should the government be defeated, the earliest date for an election would be June 27.

Mr. Martin recognized that the May 19 vote could be lost.

“If the government loses the vote next Thursday, I will seek the dissolution of this Parliament and Canadians will know that Stephen Harper and Gilles Duceppe have worked together to force an election less than one year after the last election,” Mr. Martin said.

But Tory Leader Stephen Harper said he refuses to play “games” any longer.

Both he and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said they won’t wait until May 19.

Mr. Harper said Mr. Martin is simply stalling.

“Face the nation, face parliament. If he has a vote he wants us to have, let’s have it today,” Mr. Harper said.

The NDP said Wednesday they don’t want a confidence motion and they called on the Martin government to implement changes they have asked for soon. They say they want to see the budget passed and to see parliament work, for now.
Meanwhile, Tory House Leader John Reynolds said to expect more tactics from opposition Wednesday afternoon.

Some are speculating that the opposition parties could ask that the House be adjourned for the day. The Tories and Bloc are livid after MPs voted 153—150 in favour of a Conservative motion calling on the government to resign on Tuesday night.

The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois, who supported the move, said it clearly indicated that the Liberals had lost the confidence of the House and left them unable to effectively govern.

Independent MP Chuck Cadman was unable to attend because he underwent chemotherapy treatments this week.
The Tories also have two ill MPs–Dave Chatters and Darrel Stinson, who were flown in especially for Tuesday’s vote.

Mr. Harper implied that the Prime Minister was asking that a confidence motion on the budget be delayed on purpose because several Tories are ill. “We’re not going to play another week so that he can hope the health of some members of Parliament deteriorates,” Mr. Harper said.

He was attacked for the comments by House Leader Tony Valeri.
“That’s about as low as you can get.”

Mr. Chatters and Mr. Stinson stood up in the House of Commons and asked Mr. Martin why he would not allow a vote Wednesday, given the gravity of their illnesses.

The Liberals say the vote was on a procedural matter — the motion asked the public accounts committee to rewrite a report so that it called on the government to resign — and did not represent a true measure of confidence of the Liberals’ ability to govern effectively.

The latest turn in Canada’s already volatile political situation comes as polls suggest both the Liberals and Conservatives are running neck-and-neck (31 per cent for the Tories and 27 per cent for the Grits) ahead of a potential election.

If the government fell, it would mean an election around 10 months after Canadians last went to the polls.

The Conservatives have cited outrage over damaging allegations against the Liberals at the Gomery inquiry into the federal sponsorship scandal as necessitating an election.

Captain Ed over at Captains Quarter’s has his take on the events here.

The Conservatives must have been doing some polling.

Times up Mr. Prime Minister.

Call for an election!

Opposition members of Parliament managed to force a motion through the Canadian House of Commons Tuesday demanding the fragile Liberal minority government step down.

The Globe and Mail has the story here:

The Liberals, however, say they don’t consider the move a true no-confidence motion and won’t resign.

But the success of the effort deals another blow to a government desperately trying to stave off an election until the dust settles around the federal sponsorship scandal.

Tuesday’s motion passed by a razor-thin margin, with 153 MPs — representing a union of Conservatives and members of the Bloc Québécois — voting in favour, while 150 voted against it.

The result drew applause from the Bloc and Conservatives in the House.

“I would challenge the Prime Minister if he believes he has the constitutional authority to govern, that he rise in the House and call for a vote of confidence,” Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said.

Outside the house, Mr. Harper also said that the Conservatives would take “additional steps to deal with this situation tomorrow,” saying the government is ignoring the democratic will of Parliament.

During a press conference earlier in the day, Liberal House Leader Tony Valeri called Tuesday’s motion — which asks the public accounts committee to rewrite a report so that it calls on the government to resign — “procedural” and said the government would remain in power until the Opposition mounted a valid confidence vote.

The Liberals Tuesday offered to schedule three opposition days during which MPs can introduce such a measure in the house.

The vote capped a tumultuous day on Parliament Hill, with all sides circling their wagons.

Conservative MPs were arriving in full force for the vote, with at least two seriously ill MPs — Darrel Stinson and David Chatters — flying in from their sick beds in Western Canada.

During question period, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe called the vote a “moment of truth” for Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority government.

“Will the prime minister respect the will of the elected representatives of the people, recognize that he no longer has the trust and confidence of the house and call an election?” he asked.

But Mr. Martin reiterated that opposition parties will have their chance to topple the government — just not on Tuesday.

“There will be other opportunities,” he said.

“Certainly with respect to the budget, and there are opposition days as well.”

The Liberals response to the vote is a joke and the Canadian people should demand Paul Martin step down and call elections immediately.

These type of machinations have lead to revolutions and Coup D’etats before.

Update #1

The Washington Post has this story here:

Following a raucous session of Parliament in Ottawa, Stephen Harper, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, demanded the resignation. “We have in office a corrupt party which now is ignoring the democratically expressed will of the House of Commons,” Harper said. “This government does not have the moral authority and the constitutional authority to govern.”

Although considered merely procedural by the ruling Liberal Party, Canada’s political crisis could come to a head late Tuesday afternoon when the Conservatives bring forward a motion calling for the Liberals to step down.

The vote is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. EDT.

The Globe and Mail has the story here:

The failure of a the Liberal minority government to recognize a successful vote calling for its resignation would mark a new low in Canadian political history, Conservative Deputy Leader Peter MacKay said Tuesday.

The Conservatives, with the backing of the Bloc Québécois, insist the motion is one of no confidence, and early indications suggest they may have the numbers to get the vote through.

The Liberals argue, however, that the motion is procedural rather than one of confidence, so they will not recognize it. That position continued to trigger outrage among opposition members Tuesday.

“Well, I think that that will be, perhaps, one of the lowest points in Canadian history,” Mr. MacKay told CBC Newsworld.

“If we see a government so desperate, so self-motivated, and clinging to power and ignore the democratic will of the house of commons, I think we would have hit a new low point in our Canadian history.”

Although the numbers are close, they appear to favour the Conservatives narrowly. Two Tory MPs with cancer are being flown in for the vote, while B.C. independent Chuck Cadman — expected to support the Liberals — is likely to be absent following chemotherapy treatment on Monday.

So, would this spur a parliamentary crisis which the Canadian courts would have to sort out? Or will the Liberals simply ignore this motion.

Stay tuned.