File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Confidence Vote

Defeated confidence motion on COVID-19 spending ‘bizarre’: McLeod

Oct 21, 2020 | 4:58 PM

KAMLOOPS — The MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo says Wednesday (Oct. 21) was one of the more bizarre days in her four terms as a member of parliament.

One year since the last federal election, Canada was almost thrown into another campaign.

Instead, NDP and Green members voted with the Liberal government against a motion to create a new committee to scrutinize the government’s COVID-19 spending.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared the motion a matter of confidence, meaning it would have brought down the government if passed.

Cathy McLeod says matters of confidence are typically declared for spending bills.

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“It doesn’t tend to be related to the formation of a committee that’s going to look into the spending of government,” McLeod told CFJC Today. “That is what parliament’s job is. Our job as opposition members is to hold the government to account and to scrutinize. When you’re going to have a deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars, this job becomes even more important.”

“The prime minister, if he wants an election, he can simply go to the Governor General. He actually doesn’t have to declare motions matters of confidence,” she continued. “I wonder if he just doesn’t want to be blamed for causing an election.”

McLeod says Trudeau may have seen incumbent governments perform well in provincial elections during the pandemic and wanted a majority mandate for his own government – or he may have something to hide.

“I can’t speak for the rationale behind it but certainly there’s either something in those documents they want to hide or they actually want to be in a position where they could go to an election,” McLeod said.

The government’s decision to call a confidence vote forced the NDP to vote against a move they supported in principle.

“Certainly, the NDP were supportive of [the committee],” said McLeod. “Even (Independent MP) Jody Wilson-Raybould said she is supportive of what we were doing but her electorate does not want to go to an election on this.”