OTTAWA (TIP): Clouds of uncertainty over the future of the minority Liberal government led by Mark Carney faded away after Green Party Leader Elizabeth May offered the Treasury benches a critical “yes vote” on its first budget in a neck-and-neck fight that went 170-168 for a great reprieve of Canadians who did not want to go back to the polls for the second time in seven months. The House of Commons passed Mark Carney’s first budget in a crucial vote that propped up the minority Liberal government and kept Canadians from heading back to the polls this winter. It was the third time that the Liberals got a ”yes” vote from the House since the presentation of the budget on November 5.
Earlier, Conservatives and Bloc Québécois had pressed for no-confidence motions that Mark Carney and his government managed to survive.
Incidentally, Canada did not have a majority government for a while. Though the Liberals have been running minority governments with the support of Opposition parties, minus the Conservatives, they had to succumb to the pressure tactics of the Opposition parties. The Jagmeet-led NDP had an agreement to support the last Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau in return for certain promises, including free dental care for the elderly and children, besides those with low income.
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 the budget for weeks.
Several opposition MPs did not vote, which enabled the motion to pass in the House of Commons on Monday evening.
The Liberals presented their budget as a plan to spend less and invest more in the face of U.S. tariffs. While the Conservatives wanted the Liberals to minimize the deficit and keep it around Can $47 billion, it actually touched Can $90 billion.
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 Leader Elizabeth May offered the Liberals a critical yes vote on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget Monday.
Following the question period on 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.
A series of dramatic turns was witnessed after the presentation of the budget when Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, representing the main opposition party, the Conservatives, crossed the floor to join the Liberals caucus.
Unlike the previous Liberal regime led by Justin Trudeau, the NDP, led by Jagmeet Singh, bailed the government out of the embarrassment of repeated no-confidence motions brought in by the Conservatives. At times, even the Bloc Québécois opposed the Conservatives’ no-confidence moves.
The situation, however, changed this time when the Liberals not only delayed the budget till the first week of November but also failed to earn the support of two of the three main opposition parties. Leading up to today’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 earlier in the day for the first time to meet Canada’s Paris climate commitments in response to a question from the Green Party leader and lone MP, Elizabeth 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,” Mark Carney said.