The Member of Parliament for Provencher says what Conservatives are hearing from supporters is that they want an election, and the sooner the better.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will table a non-confidence motion next week aimed at toppling the Liberal government. His party will likely need the support of both the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois for the motion to pass.
The Liberals truly became a minority government when the New Democrats ended their supply-and-confidence deal with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's party. That means the Liberals need to shore up support from opposition parties on a vote-by-vote basis.
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Federal politicians returned to the House of Commons this week for the start of the fall sitting. On Monday, Provencher MP Ted Falk noted that the Conservatives were eager to get down to business and that they would like to have a non-confidence vote as quickly as possible.
"Certainly, what we're hearing from our constituents as Conservatives is that they want an election and for them the sooner the better," says Falk. "And so that's something that we're working towards."
Falk says it will be interesting to see what the resolve is of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, noting they are the ones who can control the outcome of a non-confidence vote.
The vote will come on the heels of a pair of by-elections held this week across Canada. In Winnipeg's Elmwood-Transcona, the NDP claimed victory, while in Montreal's LaSalle-Emard-Verdun, the Bloc Quebecois came out on top. Falk says the NDP retained their seat in Winnipeg, while the Bloc snatched the seat away from the Liberals in Montreal.
Falk says he was very pleased to see Conservative support climb considerably in the Elmwood-Transcona by-election, noting they claimed 44 per cent of the vote, up from 28 per cent in the last election.
"The interesting thing is we've really seen a dip in the Liberal support, whether it's in Montreal or Elmwood-Transcona, they are down to just under five per cent of the vote in Elmwood-Transcona, where they were at almost 15 per cent in the last election," notes Falk.
He says it appears Canadians are very eager for a carbon tax election, noting the Conservatives are ready for that and would welcome that at any time.
Meanwhile, Falk says the priorities of the Conservatives are the same now as they were prior to the House of Commons breaking for summer. He notes they will continue to investigate the corruption within the Liberal party. Falk adds they are certainly focused on the cost of living with their campaign to axe the tax, build homes, fix the budget, and stop crime.
"All four of those points are issues that we're focused on here, Pierre (Poilievre) is focused on those," says Falk. "We know those are things that Canadians are concerned about and so that's the work that we're doing here in Ottawa."
Falk says one thing he will be focused on over the next several months is his private member's bill, which should be coming up for debate in October. Falk says he will work hard with members of the Conservative party, but also Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois members to try and gain their support. Falk says Bill C-400 calls on the Minister of Finance to develop a national strategy to continue the access to and use of cash and would also prevent the Bank of Canada from developing a central bank digital currency.
"Those are things that I've already been getting correspondence from across the country and I'm looking forward to debating the bill and to having these discussions with my colleagues from across the country," adds Falk.
With files from The Canadian Press