The House of Commons narrowly voted to approve the federal budget Monday, ensuring Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government survives into the new year.
The confidence vote was a crucial test for Carney’s ability to hold onto power, as all opposition parties had expressed at least some displeasure with the spending plan.
“It’s time to work together to deliver on this plan — to protect our communities, empower Canadians with new opportunities, and build Canada strong,” Carney said in a social media post after securing the vote.
Only Green Party Leader Elizabeth May voted with the minority Liberals, for a total of 170 votes in favour, with 168 opposition MPs voting against.
Conservative MPs Matt Jeneroux and Shannon Stubbs, and NDP MPs Gord Johns and Lori Idlout abstained from the vote, ensuring the motion passed.
With May’s “yes” vote, the Liberals needed just two abstentions or one more opposition vote in their favour to survive.
Failing to pass the budget Monday would have meant the fall of the Liberal government and raised the possibility of a snap election just seven months after the last one.
Speaking to reporters after the vote alongside his entire caucus — including Johns and Idlout — Interim NDP Leader Don Davies said while the party had serious concerns about the budget, it was clear Canadians did not want a snap election right now.
“We have decided to put the interests of our country first, to vote against the budget but to help prevent an election,” Davies said.
“When the next election comes, whenever that may be, Canadians will hold Mark Carney responsible and to account for his record and the choices that he made in this budget. But today, New Democrats are choosing stability over political games.”
Davies pushed back against reporters who suggested the NDP was “propping up” the government, noting Conservative MPs had also abstained.
“I don’t think any political party in the House of Commons wants an election right now,” he said. “I haven’t heard anybody say they want an election, because we all understand we just had an election in April.
“People want Parliament to work.”
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Johns said he abstained after hearing “unanimously” from his constituents, including mayors and other local officials and Indigenous leaders in his riding, “that they didn’t want the government to fall.”
“We’re being the adults in the room,” he said.
The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois had already signalled they would not support the budget, but Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his office would not clearly say last week if his entire caucus was being whipped to vote against it.
“On behalf of the Canadians that Liberals have priced out of food, homes and life, Conservatives voted no tonight on this costly credit card budget that gambles away Canada’s future,” Poilievre said in a post on X after Monday’s vote.
Jeneroux, who announced earlier this month he would be resigning as a member of Parliament, and Stubbs were among four Conservative MPs who abstained from two earlier confidence votes related to the budget brought forward by the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois.
A statement from Stubbs’ office said she was on previously-scheduled medical leave and was unable to vote Monday.
Asked earlier Monday if his party would unanimously vote against the budget, Conservative MP Michael Barrett told reporters, “We’ll see what happens.”
Following Monday’s question period, May said she would vote for the budget after getting assurances in the House of Commons from Carney that Canada would remain committed to its obligations under the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Those assurances had been a key stipulation for May after she said the budget did not contain strong enough language on environmental commitments.
“Against what I had expected to say to you today, I’m going to vote yes — for the country, for the planet, and for my hope for the future,” she said.
“The Liberals can’t count on me voting confidence in the government again without delivering on the words I heard.”
The budget’s passage means a ways and means motion implementing various tax changes is also expected to pass on Tuesday.
Budget 2025 proposes $141.4 billion in new spending offset by $51.7 billion in projected savings over the next five years, with the deficit projected at $78.3 billion this year.
The budget touts $115 billion in infrastructure spending over five years, $30 billion more in defence and security spending and $25 billion for federal housing initiatives over that same period.
It also promises to invest $110 billion over five years in “productivity and competitiveness” initiatives – measures the government hopes will help their new target of “catalyzing” $500 billion in private sector investment by 2030.
Carney and his government have framed the budget as a response to the economic harm posed by U.S. tariffs, with plans to attract more international investment and diversify Canadian trade.
The NDP and Bloc Quebecois criticized the budget for being too similar to previous Conservative budgets by pushing for public service cuts and weakening climate change commitments. The Conservatives, by contrast, said it did not go far enough in cutting taxes and spending.
During question period Monday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne dared Conservatives and other opposition parties to vote against what he said was a “generational” investment in growing Canada’s economy.
“We believe in Canada, and Canadians are going to see whether the Conservatives believe in Canada,” he said.
—With files from Global’s Alex Boutilier
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