The Conservatives have threatened to ask the Governor General to dissolve the government if the Senate doesn't pass their crime bill by March 1.

The ultimatum came Thursday when the Conservatives announced they had tabled a confidence motion in the House of Commons demanding the March 1 deadline be issued to the Liberal-dominated Senate.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and government House Leader Peter Van Loan, left, told reporters in Ottawa on Thursday they want the Senate to pass their crime bill by March 1.
(Tom Hanson/ Canadian Press)

If senators don't obey the motion, which is expected to pass, House leader Peter Van Loan suggested the Tories could approach Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean and have an election called because all levels of government are not able to move forward together.

"At that point there would be a clear impasse between the House of Commons and the Senate," Van Loan said at a news conference with Justice Minister Rob Nicholson in Ottawa.

He compared the situation to 1988, when the Senate didn't pass the free-trade agreement and an election was called.

Van Loan noted that the Governor General doesn't have to agree to dissolve government.

Senate accused of stalling

Van Loan and Nicholson said the ultimatum was necessary because the Senate is stalling on the bill to tackle violent crime.

The Tory bill was passed by almost all MPs in the House of Commons in November, but still needs Senate approval to become law.

The bill, among other things, calls for:

• Mandatory prison terms for serious gun crimes.
• Stiffer penalties for impaired driving.
• Tougher bail laws.
• Tougher rules for repeat offenders.
• Increasing the age of sexual consent to 16 from 14 in certain cases.

"The [bill] has now been at the Senate for 71 days, almost twice as long as it took to pass in the House of Commons," Van Loan said, although he conceded that the Christmas break fell during the 71 days.

"It's clear that the Liberal Senate delay-and-obstruction grinding machine is back at work."

'I just want it passed'

Liberal Senate Leader Céline Hervieux-Payette said the Senate committee studying the bill has agreed to extend its hours and sit through a planned break in mid-February.

Still, Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs said Wednesday that it would not be possible to finish work on the bill by March 1. She said senators have a "constitutional responsibility" to thoroughly study the legislation.

But Nicholson said the March 1 deadline gives more than enough time, considering the elements of the bill have been studied extensively for nearly two years by the government and the public.

"The Senate is capable of doing this," he said. "The idea that they can't get through this legislation … by the end of this month is something that I reject.

"I just want it passed," he added. "I think what I'm asking is just reasonable."

He said he would urge Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to pressure Liberal senators to meet the deadline.

Motion can topple government

Van Loan said it is unlikely the confidence motion to issue the deadline will fail to pass in the House, considering the level of MP support for the crime bill.

"They approved it through all stages in 41 days. If they then turned around and changed their mind and suggested they didn't want it to pass now, that would be highly unusual, but I have seen the Liberals reverse their positions before," he said.

Van Loan said he expects debate on the motion to begin Monday in the Commons. He said a vote should come by Friday.

A confidence motion does have the power to topple the government. If it doesn't pass in the House, the government is defeated and an election called immediately.

Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale accused the Conservatives of trying to engineer an election call surrounding their popular crime bill, so that they don't have to take a fall on other, less popular, looming confidence motions, such as a call to extend the Afghanistan mission.

"This is a pretty juvenile trick," Goodale told CBC News. "They're trying to find a cute little political trick here to defeat themselves before they have to face the music. And quite frankly, from the point of view of the official Opposition, we're not going to fall into that trap."

He said his caucus is going to discuss the crime vote, but said Liberals will vote for it, ensuring it passes in the House.

NDP House leader Libby Davies said her party will not support the motion. She said the NDP supports the crime bill, and supports the call to have Senate deal with the bill quickly, but the NDP on principle will refuse to support confidence motions tabled by the Conservatives.

"Clearly we haven't had confidence in this government," she told CBC News. "Every opportunity we've had to vote against the wrong direction of this government, we've taken."