Canada's parliamentary backlog may serve as trigger for early election

FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada March 23, 2021. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's first budget in two years looks set to join a pile of stalled bills in a Parliament besieged by partisan squabbling, a logjam that could be the trigger Prime Minister Justin Trudeau uses to call an early election.

Trudeau's Liberals have a minority of seats in the House of Commons and must rely on other parties to govern. They complain that the Conservatives, the largest opposition party, are blocking key bills as the COVID-19 pandemic still rages.