Liberals Try to Topple Canadian Government

“Mr. Harper, your time is up,” Mr. Ignatieff told a cheering crowd of Liberal politicians at a party retreat in Sudbury, Ontario. “We will hold Stephen Harper to account and we will oppose his government in Parliament.”

The Conservatives do not control a majority of the votes in the House of Commons and rely on the support of the Liberals and two smaller opposition parties to maintain power. Some combination of members from the two smaller parties, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois, would have to join the Liberals in order to bring down the government.

Bob Rae, a prominent Liberal member of Parliament, said his party would introduce a motion of no confidence in the government at the first opportunity in the Parliamentary calendar, probably in early October.