Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a joint press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on September 18, 2025. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
The Liberal government survived a second budget confidence vote on Nov. 7, after a Bloc Québécois amendment calling on the House of Commons to reject the budget was voted down.
The amendment to the budget failed 307 to 30, with the Bloc, NDP, and Green Party voting in favour of it, and the Liberals and Conservatives voting against it. The Bloc’s motion called for the House to “reject” the government’s budget statement because it would “hurt Quebec,” saying it failed to raise the Canadian health transfer escalator to 6 percent, excludes people aged 65 to 74 from an increase in Old Age Security, does not repay $814 million to Quebecers who were not compensated for the end of the consumer carbon tax, and does not propose “concrete and effective measures to combat climate change.” Typically, the first amendment proposed on a budget comes from the official Opposition, however, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did not submit one following his speech in response to the budget on Nov. 5. This led to Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet quickly introducing an amendment to the budget instead.
The Conservatives proposed a sub-amendment on Nov. 6 that suggested the removal of the Bloc’s wording, instead saying the House should condemn the budget for not matching Conservative expectations. It said the government had presented a budget that “fails to consider that every dollar the Liberal government spends comes out of the pockets of Canadians in the form of higher taxes and inflation.” The Tory sub-amendment failed 139 to 198 on Nov. 6, after the Liberals, Bloc Québécois, NDP, and Green Party voted against it.
The votes on the amendment and the sub-amendment are considered confidence votes because they call on the House to reject the budget, and could trigger an early election if they fail.
A third confidence vote on the Liberal government’s budget, which was tabled on Nov. 4, will come later this month. The Conservatives and Bloc said earlier this week that they would not vote in favour of the bill in its current form, while NDP Interim Leader Don Davies has said his party would take time to consider whether to support it.
“We’re still debating that in our caucus, but you know, we’re taking it one motion at a time,” Davies said on Nov. 6.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May told reporters on Nov. 6 that she was “probably voting no on the budget,” and would like to see large changes in order for her to vote in favour of it.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters on Nov. 6 that several Canadians have personally told him they want to see the budget passed, and encouraged “any member of the opposition to go in the street, talk to people, and you’ll see what they tell you.” Prime Minister Mark Carney’s budget bill projects the government will post a $78.3 billion deficit this fiscal year. The budget calls for billions of dollars in new spending that the government says will help the economy. It also calls for cuts to the public service and foreign aid to reduce government spending. The minority Liberals currently hold 170 seats in the House of Commons after Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont left the Conservative Party and crossed the floor to join the Liberals. The government is still short of the two seats its needs to pass the budget without help from opposition parties. Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux announced on Nov. 6 his plan to resign from Parliament, vacating his seat as the representative for the Alberta riding of Edmonton Riverbend, to spend more time with his family. He said his official resignation date would likely come sometime in the spring.