The Party Canadian Society and Politics - Tories lose effort to stage non-confidence vote in Commons

OTTAWA (CP) - The Conservatives have failed in a surprise attempt to bring down the minority Liberal government and trigger an election.

The Tories put forward an amendment to a routine bill in the House of Commons on Thursday - a move that could have resulted in a non-confidence vote. But the Speaker ruled the amendment out of order.

The next chance for the Conservatives to introduce a non-confidence motion appears to be May 18, but the Speaker has also been asked to rule that effort out of order.