Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet’s threat to force a confidence vote against Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is likely nothing more than political bombast.
In response to the WE Charity fiasco, Blanchet demanded that the prime minister, the finance minister and the PM’s chief of staff all resign, or he will try to bring down the government.
READ MORE: Bloc leader vows to seek fall election unless Trudeau, Morneau resign
In a lame attempt to add dramatic flair to his threat, Blanchet then stormed out of the chamber, only to return a few minutes later.
Political melodrama aside, the chance of the government falling on this issue is pretty slim.
Not that there aren’t valid concerns about some of the questionable behaviour of the government, but there’s always a political calculus at play, too.
The Conservatives would be willing partners in Blanchet’s political coup; they were ready to try to topple the government the day after the last election.
But the NDP doesn’t seem to have an appetite to play along.
It’s common knowledge that the NDP are cash poor these days and not ready, willing or able to fight an election any time soon.
But NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also sees the political opportunity in this scenario.
A wounded Liberal government is more likely to embrace ideas such as improved child care policies and improvements to employment insurance in return for ongoing NDP support.
A political move in that direction is likely to stave off any move to topple the government, for the time being anyway.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.
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