BREAKING: Liberals survive first confidence vote post-budget

Opposition parties opted against a June snap election earlier this year.

 

The Canadian Press / Adrian Wyld

Parliament’s first confidence vote failed Thursday evening after failing to secure support from the Bloc Québécois, NDP, or Green Party. This follows a surprise resignation from Edmonton-area MP Matt Jeneroux just before the vote.

The House of Commons rejected a Conservative sub-amendment (198-139) to replace the Bloc's budget rejection language with Conservative priorities, including a $42 billion deficit limit. It nearly doubled to $78.9 billion.

The House will vote on the Bloc amendment tomorrow and the budget, then recess for Remembrance Day. 

While the Official Opposition typically amends the budget motion, followed by the second-largest opposition party sub-amending, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did not move an amendment after his budget speech Wednesday.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet quickly did, forcing the Conservatives to sub-amend the Bloc’s amendment, citing four unaddressed policy priorities.

Both votes are confidence votes, as they directly reject the budget. Losing either vote or the main budget vote could lead to a snap election, according to a spokesperson for Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon.

Governments typically face a federal election if defeated on a confidence matter. The government survived Thursday's vote on a Conservative motion, despite opposition from the Bloc Québécois and NDP on the budget.

Opposition parties, except for the one-seat Green Party, must vote together to defeat the Liberal government, which lacks a two-vote majority.

Bloc spokesperson Joanie Riopel earlier told the Globe and Mail that they would oppose the Conservative sub-amendment, as it removes the Bloc's original wording. She noted the Bloc proposed their sub-amendment only after the Conservatives failed to propose their own.

Also before the vote, NDP interim leader Don Davies stated his caucus would keep the minority Liberal government alive in the first of three confidence tests of the federal budget. The seven NDP MPs are still deciding their vote on the Bloc amendment and the budget.

Despite past attempts, opposition parties opted against a snap election earlier this year, allowing Prime Minister Mark Carney to survive the spring. A divisive May 27 Throne Speech ultimately passed without a recorded vote.

At the time, Davies and his caucus opposed the government's Throne Speech, forcing the Liberals to seek other support. The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois, however, did not disclose their position, as no formal vote occurred on June 4.

The bizarre turn of events follows the Liberal government ignoring a non-binding motion for a budget or economic update before the summer recess.

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Alex Dhaliwal

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Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

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COMMENTS

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  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2025-11-06 21:01:21 -0500
    All this budgetary flummery hasn’t instilled a great deal of investor confidence.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2025-11-06 19:15:02 -0500
    What a day for losses. First the CFIA gets the green light to kill the ostriches and now the budget passed due to Liberal and Bloc trickery. At this rate, the Liberals will be in power forever. I feel more and more tempted to immigrate to America. Then again, the DevilCrats are winning back their power there too.