House of Commons votes to support the federal budget
Posted March 10, 2010 9:02 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The minority Conservative government survived another confidence test Wednesday as the House of Commons voted in principle to support the federal budget.
MPs voted 142-132 for the budget, which will face further votes in the spring before being implemented.
All three opposition parties opposed the budget motion, but the Liberals made sure that enough of their MPs stayed away to avoid toppling the government.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has said Canadians don’t want an election and he won’t force one until they do.
On Tuesday, the Commons overwhelmingly rejected a Bloc Quebecois amendment. It would have forced the government to stop tax benefits to the oil industry and use the money to compensate Quebec for the HST and to improve EI benefits, among other things. Only the Bloc and NDP supported the proposed change.
Also Tuesday, the House voted down an NDP sub-amendment that included eliminating tax benefits to all big corporations and protecting pensions. Only the NDP supported that change.
The Liberals didn’t bother to introduce an amendment of their own.
The latest polls suggest the Conservatives hold a slight lead over the Liberals after weeks of deadlock.
A two-week Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey put Conservative support at 33 per cent and the Liberals at 29. The NDP was well back at 16.
The results suggest a turnaround for the Tories who saw their support drop sharply after Harper’s controversial decision to prorogue Parliament in late December. The move delayed the return of Parliament by six weeks as the government faced tough questions over the Afghan detainee controversy.
However, the national Tory uptick in the poll can be attributed almost completely to British Columbia, where voter volatility remains high.
