Can the Governor General do what Pierre Poilievre is asking? This expert says no

Tories want house recalled for confidence vote CTV News' Rachel Aiello breaks down what needs to happen for the Gov. Gen. to get involved with forcing a non-confidence vote in the House.

A historically difficult week for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government ended with a renewed push from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to topple this government – this time in the form a letter to the Governor General.

In a Friday afternoon press conference, Poilievre told reporters he was writing to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, “asking her to reconvene Parliament and require a non-confidence vote."

The letter itself doesn’t state that exactly – rather, it implores her to "use your authority to inform the prime minister that he must" recall the House of Commons so a non-confidence vote can be held. It asks her to "confer with" the prime minister, "to ensure that he understands his constitutional duty."

But can the Governor General do what the Conservative leader is asking?

“In a word – no,” Eric Adams, a constitutional expert and law professor at the University of Alberta, told CTV News.

“She has one prime minister; we wouldn't want it otherwise,” he said. “She doesn't take advice from the opposition leader. You can send her letters, but she doesn't take her direction from him.”

Poilievre made the case on Friday that when you add up the Conservative, Bloc and NDP MPs who are now indicating they've lost confidence in the prime minister, plus the more than a dozen Liberal MPs pushing for a new leader, it amounts to 70 per cent of parliamentarians.

But Adams says Trudeau is still the prime minister, and while it may be “almost inevitable” that he loses a confidence vote, it doesn’t matter.

“Until you lose that vote, it doesn’t matter how many people announce they’re about to vote non-confidence,” Adams said. “You have confidence.”

The Official Opposition has taken the position that Simon has the right and responsibility to advise the prime minister to seek a test of confidence, based on what has unfolded since the last such vote.

But Adams points to history, specifically in 2008, when former prime minister Stephen Harper prorogued government, as the exact reason why the Governor General isn’t in a position to take action on recommendations from the opposition leader.

“Why did he want to prorogue parliament? Well, because he was about to lose a vote of non-confidence. And the howls of opposition at that time were that, no, he had to face Parliament,” Adams said, adding that what unfolded Friday was nothing but “drama on Parliament Hill.”

“Politicians act politically, they do that across the political spectrum,” he said. “It’s going to play out according to the to the rules of the game.”

Adams says Simon is unlikely to engage with Poilievre, and that a good Governor General is aware of what’s going on politically, but is also clear on where the lines of authority are.

“There are none that sketch their way to the leader of the opposition, or to Mr. Singh or to the leader of the Bloc. She has a prime minister. His name is Justin Trudeau. She will not be taking advice from other people.”

With files from CTV’s Rachel Aiello and Spencer Van Dyk