Bloc Quebecois leader says party won't take part in a coalition federal government
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is rejecting the idea of being part of a coalition federal government after the Sept. 20 election.
Blanchet says he would refuse any scenario that would see his party prop up a Liberal or Conservative minority government for any length of time in the House of Commons.
He says he would instead support a minority government that would survive a full four-year mandate.
Blanchet says forming a coalition would unduly tie down his party even if it would hold the balance of power.
He says he would prefer for a minority government to propose policies in the best interests of Quebec in order to receive support from the Bloc.
In 2008, the Bloc led by Gilles Duceppe had entered into an ill-fated agreement with the Liberals and NDP to form a coalition government to prevent the Conservatives under Stephen Harper from governing.
The Bloc at the time had agreed to lend its support for 19 months to a government composed of ministers from the Liberals and NDP.
In reaction, Harper prorogued Parliament to avoid having his minority government toppled.
"The obligation for a (minority) government or a party to do something that is good for Quebec in order to secure the support of the Bloc is the best guarantee we can have," Blanchet told reporters in Gatineau, Que., on Thursday.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.