Say no if Justin Trudeau asks for an election, Jagmeet Singh tells new governor general

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This article was published 28/07/2021 (1283 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is asking newly installed Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to turn down any request from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to dissolve Parliament and call a snap election.

Simon just took up the job on Monday, and Singh said he’s sure she’s already getting expert advice on what he called “the first and most important decisions you will have to make — namely, the question of whether to grant a request from the prime minister, if such a request is made, that Parliament be dissolved.”

So, Singh wrote to Simon in a July 27 letter obtained by the Star, he wants to give her some context: in his opinion, there’s simply no grounds to accept the idea that Parliament isn’t working and Canadians ought to go to the polls.

“In the present sitting of the House of Commons, the government has won every confidence vote they have put to the House — including on the speech from the throne and on the budget,” Singh wrote.

“Additionally, just two months ago the House approved by a margin of 327-1 a motion stating that ‘holding an election during a pandemic would be irresponsible.’”

Speculation is running high that an election call is imminent, with many suggesting Trudeau could visit Simon within weeks to ask her to dissolve Parliament.

All of the federal party leaders — including Singh — are on campaign-style tours this week.

During a stop in Calgary earlier this month, Trudeau insisted the tour — and the billions of dollars in program funding he’s been announcing — doesn’t mean he’s on election footing.

Rather, he told Red FM, with COVID-19 case counts declining and vaccinations on the rise, he wanted to take an opportunity to travel and prove his government has been at work.

“It shows that we are getting things done,” Trudeau said.

The reality, Singh wrote to Simon, is that the pandemic is still a public health concern.

Meanwhile, there are many pieces of business left undone, in the form of legislation the Liberals introduced just before the House of Commons rose for summer and bills that have yet to pass the Senate.

Among them are bills that would ban conversion therapy, increase protections against online hate speech, and repeal mandatory minimum sentences in the Criminal Code.

“We are concerned that a snap summer election will slow progress on these initiatives,” Singh wrote.

The New Democrats have backed nearly all of the Liberals’ proposals in the Commons since the outset of the pandemic, and have used their support to win improvements to several pandemic-related programs.

That’s become the tag line on their own precampaign advertising: “Justin Trudeau talks while Jagmeet Singh delivers.”

Recent polls suggest support for the NDP is on an upswing, and if Canadians had to cast a ballot soon, it could be to Singh’s benefit.

But Singh said recently that he thinks the next election should be held in October 2023, when it’s scheduled under the fixed election law that states every general election must be held on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following the last election.

The Governor General dissolves Parliament at the request of the prime minister, but that doesn’t mean, Singh wrote to Simon, that they must always agree to do it.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic still upon us, and with these important measures still before Parliament, New Democrats have urged the prime minister not to call a snap election,” he wrote.

“Should he attempt to request dissolution of Parliament, we think it is important to reiterate that, as you are aware, one does not need to be granted in the absence of a loss of confidence in the House. Thank you for your consideration.”

The question of whether or not a governor general can turn down a prime minister’s request becomes a hot debate any time there’s a whiff of tension over that ask.

In 2008, then-prime minister Stephen Harper faced having his minority Conservative government toppled by an opposition coalition just a handful of months after a federal election.

So, he went to the governor general at the time, Michaëlle Jean, to ask her to prorogue Parliament.

Though the Constitution Act gives the Queen — and in turn her representative in Canada, the governor general, executive power — in practice the governor general acts on the advice of the prime minister.

But the governor general’s fundamental role is to ensure Canada’s democratic institutions are functioning appropriately.

In that spirit the governor general retains what’s known as reserve powers that can be used to override a prime ministerial request, though most scholars agree it’s an option that ought to be used only in exceptional and emergency circumstances.

Whether or not Jean should exercise her reserve powers and deny Harper’s request became a flashpoint — allowing for a prorogation solely to save the government’s neck was seen potentially as the wrong use of her reserve authority.

But she was reported to have later said that while she knew she had the power to say no, she ultimately decided to grant the request for the good of the country.

Find the Star’s federal election coverage here

Stephanie Levitz is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @StephanieLevitz