Weakened Liberal Party Saved by BQ - Who would have thought Canada might be saved from an election by the only political party that seeks to break up the country?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a chance to keep his Liberals in power thanks to Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet. On Tuesday, without engaging any of the parties in substantive negotiations, the Liberals decided to lay the future of the government on the tracks of the oncoming Conservative train. They tempted the fate not just of their own political lifespan, but also that of all the policies they say they want to accomplish: a more compassionate and responsive immigration system; action to curb greenhouse gasses; a school food program; a pharmacare program that provides free contraception and diabetes medication; better (though inadequate) disability payments; and the entrenchment of a dental care program that has seen a huge uptick of subscribers.

- By Althia Raj

Who would have thought Canada might be saved from an election by the only political party that seeks to break up the country?

And yet that is what appears to have happened Wednesday, after the Liberals decided to play chicken by offering Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives a chance to defeat the government next week.

On Tuesday, without engaging any of the parties in substantive negotiations, the Liberals decided to lay the future of the government on the tracks of the oncoming Conservative train. They tempted the fate not just of their own political lifespan, but also that of all the policies they say they want to accomplish: a more compassionate and responsive immigration system; action to curb greenhouse gasses; a school food program; a pharmacare program that provides free contraception and diabetes medication; better (though inadequate) disability payments; and the entrenchment of a dental care program that has seen a huge uptick of subscribers. They put at risk all those progressive policies — policies the NDP also supports — to avoid looking weak and to try to avoid a possible trip to the polls later this fall.

Aside from Conservatives, few people want an election right now. Fifty-six per, cent according to Ipsos, want the parties to work together to make Parliament work. Some potential Conservative voters may not even want a contest when they realize that the policies they tell pollsters they support — child care, dental care — are policies Poilievre won’t say he’ll keep.