Fall of the Government of Canada?!?
In short -not yet.
Last night there was a vote held, which the government lost. Because the vote wasn`t one of confidence, it doesn`t mean that the government has to dissolve. (However, the opposition insists that it was a vote of confidence). The vote was for a report going to a committee, and the committee (majority Liberals and NDP) probably won`t adopt the report. A vote of confidence is only for budget bills, bills that the Government declares of confidence, or bills dealing with the Constitution. The amendment voted upon last night wasn`t for any of these types of bills.
Today we got to ask questions to the Clerks of the House of Commons and the Senate, which was a lot more interesting than it sounds! Of course, we asked about the vote last night. They said what I just wrote, but in a lot more detail.
However, there`ll be a vote of confidence next week (May 18th) on the Government Budget. If the government looses that vote, then it could fall, and an election called (assuming that the Governor General doesn`t try to get the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois to form a government).
The President of Mali visited Parliament today, so there were Mali flags flying with the Canadian ones on Confederation Boulevard. Unfortunately I didn`t get to see him enter Parliament, because I had to get back to the training session (I missed him by 20 minutes).