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OTTAWA — The Conservative government voted no-confidence in Elections Canada Tuesday, raising the stakes in the government's battle with the federal body tasked with ensuring free and fair elections.
All Conservative MPs in the Commons voted Tuesday against a Bloc Québécois motion calling on the House “to express its full and complete confidence in Elections Canada and the Commissioner of Elections Canada.” The motion passed 152-117 with the combined support of all three opposition parties.
Liberal deputy leader Michael Ignatieff said it was shameful the government could not support the motion.
“I find it unbelievable that a governing party in Canada would refuse to support a motion expressing confidence in the institution that keeps our country's elections fair... And I think Canadian citizens will find it unbelievable,” Mr. Ignatieff told reporters Tuesday.
An unidentified man opens the door for a plainclothes RCMP officer at the Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa this month. (Tom Hanson/The Canadian Press)
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The motion is the latest attempt by the opposition to capitalize on this month's raid on Conservative Party headquarters by Elections Canada officials, who executed a court-approved search warrant with the assistance of the RCMP.
The warrant and a sworn affidavit allege that the Conservatives exceeded the national spending limit by $1.1-million during the 2005-2006 campaign through transactions between local ridings and the national headquarters to cover advertising costs and produce rebates for local candidates who were not entitled to receive them.
In explaining their opposition to the Bloc motion, Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers pointed Tuesday to examples that they say illustrate that Elections Canada is targeting the Tories while turning a blind eye to similar practices from other parties.
“The Conservative Party has followed all the laws,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons. “In fact, the Conservative Party has used practices, as has been demonstrated in this House, that have been used for years, allowed by Elections Canada, and used by every single party.”
Tuesday's vote occurred after Elections Canada closed for the day, and no one was available to comment. The agency has so far declined comment on matters relating to its search of Conservative Party headquarters.
The vote of no-confidence in Canada's elections watchdog had at least one provincial elections official scratching her head as to how the government's battle with Elections Canada will end.
“I'm not a political historian, but I'm not aware of this having occurred in the past,” said Linda Johnson, the deputy chief electoral officer of British Columbia. “I'm not aware of that ever happening in British Columbia, so what it means to the agency? I really couldn't say. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how we would respond to something like that. Certainly any agency wants to know that it is respected by the House that it serves.”
