Carney government survives 2nd crucial confidence vote on budget

The Liberal government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney survived a second vote of confidence over the budget in the House of Commons on Friday, after surviving the first on Thursday.

The vote was on an amendment to the budget put forward by the Bloc Quebecois.

While the Bloc’s motion had support from the seven NDP MPs and from Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, both the Liberals and the Conservatives voted against it, ensuring that it failed on the floor of the House.

The motion was defeated with 30 votes for and 307 against.

1:39 Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux resigns, 2nd to leave caucus this week

This comes after the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and May voted with the minority Liberals to defeat a Conservative sub-amendment to the budget on Thursday.

The Conservative measure was a sub-amendment to the Bloc’s own budget amendment.

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A spokesperson for Government House Leader Steven Mackinnon told Global News earlier Thursday that Carney made the determination to make both amendments confidence votes.

“They are matters of confidence,” communications director Mark Kennedy said.

Governments must win confidence votes in order to remain in power.

The minority Liberals, with 170 seats in the House of Commons, need at least two opposition votes to survive any confidence votes, which will include the federal budget when it’s brought up for final approval.

The Liberals gained a seat after Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont announced this week he was resigning from the Conservative caucus to join the government.

2:08 Floor-crosser hints more Conservative MPs could defect to Liberals

Late Thursday, Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux said he was quitting Parliament altogether following days of rumours that he was also planning to join the government.

Speaking to the Canadian Club Toronto on Friday afternoon, Carney joked that there could be more opposition defections to come.

“Call your local MP if they’re not a Liberal,” he told the audience members. Many of them laughed along.

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer accused the Liberals of “trying to cobble together a majority through undemocratic means with backroom deals and pressure tactics.”

Scheer — who was Conservative leader when Leona Alleslev crossed the floor to join his caucus in 2018 — accused the government of trying to distract from its “terrible budget.”

—With files from the Canadian Press