Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government narrowly survived a crucial budget vote Monday evening, one that could have sent Canadians to the polls this winter but instead propped up the minority Liberal government.
Members of Parliament ended weeks of drama and speculation about the Carney government’s fate by voting 170 to 168 on a confidence motion that expressed support for the fall federal budget.
Carney was elected in the spring on a campaign to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war, but only secured a minority government mandate — leaving the Liberals scrambling to secure support for Carney’s signature budget for weeks.
Two opposition MPs each from the Conservatives and the New Democrats did not cast votes in the House of Commons, which was key to preventing the government from falling. Those were NDP MPs Lori Idlout and Gord Johns, and Conservative MPs Shannon Stubbs and Matt Jeneroux.
Both parties otherwise voted en masse against the budget, as did the Bloc Québécois.
While interim NDP leader Don Davies railed against the budget as bad policy, he at the same time said there is “strong consensus in this country that Canadians do not want an election basically six months after the last one.”
“We have serious economic issues. Mr. Trump is changing his mind every day and it’s not the right time for our country to plunge into an election,” Davies told reporters shortly after the vote.
Davies defended the abstentions in his party as routine, then bristled when asked why the NDP was propping up the Liberals once again.
“There are abstentions on the Conservative side, too. Are they propping up the government? Why don’t you go ask (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre?”
After Poilievre ducked out of the chamber for the night, he did not appear before the television cameras to speak with media after the vote.
Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia, who did not cast a vote and does not normally do so, has the ability to cast a tiebreaking vote, which means he could have prevented the government from falling if just two of the abstaining MPs from either party had cast theirs against the Liberal motion.
The Liberals presented their budget as a plan to spend less and invest more in the face of U.S. tariffs.
After taking Ottawa’s cost savings goals into account, the budget proposes nearly $90 billion in new spending over five years, much of it focused on capital creation.
Green Party support key to passing of budget
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May offered the Liberals a critical yes vote on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget Monday.
Following question period Monday and before the vote, May told reporters she will support Carney’s fiscal plan after the prime minister pledged his commitment to the Paris Agreement climate goals in the House of Commons.
CityNews Parliament Hill reporter, Glen McGregor stressed earlier in the day that anything is possible, citing how Nova Scotia conservative MP Chris d’Entremont suddenly switched allegiances earlier this month.
“Keep in mind just a week ago the number (of votes needed) was different,” he said. “It was three votes they needed, and then Chris d’Entremont decided to cross the floor … and sit as a Liberal and crucially to vote as a Liberal as well.
Leading up to Monday’s vote, opposition parties spoke out against the budget, saying it doesn’t align with their priorities.
That changed for the Green Party when Carney pledged on Monday for the first time to meet Canada’s Paris climate commitments in response to a question from May pressing him for environmental action.
“This budget puts us on the path for real results for climate, for nature, for reconciliation. I can confirm to this House that we will respect our Paris commitments for climate change and we’re determined to achieve them,” he said.