Liberal Government’s Budget Passes Confidence Vote, Averting Christmas Election

The Liberal government’s budget narrowly survived a confidence vote in the House of Commons that could have led to a second election in 2025, as some MPs abstained from voting.

The budget passed 170 to 168 on Nov. 17, with the Liberals and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May voting in favour. All Bloc Québécois MPs and most Conservative and NDP MPs voted against the budget, while NDP MPs Gord Johns and Lori Idlout and Conservative MPs Shannon Stubbs and Matt Jeneroux didn’t vote.

NDP Interim Leader Don Davies said his party opposed the Liberal government’s budget, calling it a “Conservative budget,” but added that they didn’t want to send the country into another election in the current situation, and that’s why two of the party’s MPs abstained. He added that the party didn’t get any concessions from the governing Liberals in return for the two MPs abstaining.

“Canada is facing instability and overlapping crises, but in these challenging times, we must put our country’s wellbeing first, not partisan interests,” Davies told reporters. He added that the NDP caucus decided on the final course of action in the morning of Nov. 17.

NDP MP Idlout, who represents Nunavut, said she abstained from voting because the budget contains promises for her constituency that she couldn’t vote against. NDP MP Johns said he had spoken with his constituents and that they didn’t want the country to go to an election at this time. Several Conservative MPs in the House of Commons yelled out Johns’s name and gestured for him to stand up and state “no” during the vote, but he remained seated, abstaining from voting.

Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs’s office told The Epoch Times that she couldn’t vote as she is recovering from a major jaw and chin surgery.

“Her surgical team has ordered several weeks of strict bedrest, no speaking, and limited movement to ensure a safe recovery. She remains deeply grateful to the hospital staff for their care and professionalism,” her office said.

“The surgery was originally scheduled for last spring, but it was postponed when the Liberals called an election. When it was rescheduled, only a few surgical dates were available. At that time, there was no information about the Liberals’ budget schedule, and the government repeatedly shifted the budget date. All medical approvals were granted months before any notice of the budget.”

It wasn’t immediately clear why Tory MP Matt Jeneroux didn’t vote. Jeneroux announced earlier this month that he is resigning from politics amid rumours he planned to join the Liberals, following in the footsteps of Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, a former Tory who crossed the floor to the Liberals on Nov. 4. Jeneroux, who denied those rumours, said at the time of announcing his resignation on Nov. 6 that he likely won’t leave Parliament until the spring.

Even if Jeneroux and Stubbs had voted against the budget, bringing the opposing votes to 170, the budget still would have passed with the Green vote and the two NDP abstentions as the House Speaker, Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia, could have provided a tie-breaker vote and allowed the budget to pass 171 to 170.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that with the House voting to pass Budget 2025, it was “time to work together to deliver on this plan — to protect our communities, empower Canadians with new opportunities, and build Canada strong.”

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said that there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world, and that those who voted in favour of the budget “have shown that they are really committed to Canada.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in his own statement that the budget would “drive up the cost of living” for Canadians, and that his party had “demanded an affordable budget for an affordable life.”

“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,” he said.

The Nov. 17 vote called on the House of Commons to approve the budgetary policy of the government. The vote was a matter of confidence and would have triggered another election if it had not passed.

The Liberal government survived its first confidence vote on Nov. 6, after a Conservative amendment to the budget calling for the House to reject it failed. The Liberals, Bloc Québécois, NDP, and Green Party voted against it.

In a second confidence motion on Nov. 7, the Bloc Québécois called for the House to reject the budget, saying it included measures that would “hurt Quebec.” The motion failed, with the Bloc, NDP, and Green Party voting in favour of it, and the Liberals and Conservatives voting against it.

2025 Budget

With the budget passing, Finance Minister Champagne will now table the budget implementation bill, which will allow the government to enact the legislative priorities laid out in the budget. These will require new laws or amendments to existing laws.

The Liberals’ Nov. 4 budget proposes billions of dollars in new spending, with the government saying the expenditures are needed to boost the economy in the face of U.S. tariffs. The budget also includes savings, including cuts to the public service and foreign aid.

The Conservative Party said it would not support the budget, which projects a $78.3 billion deficit this fiscal year, arguing it carries too much expenditure and debt and fails to cut taxes such as the industrial carbon tax.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet had also said he could “hardly see how” his party could vote in favour of the budget due to its $78 billion deficit as well as unmet demands. The Bloc made six “unavoidable” demands required to support the budget, including higher Old Age Security payments and health transfers to the provinces.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May initially said on Nov. 4 she could not vote in favour of the budget because it supported the fossil fuel industry, did not include adequate measures to fight climate change, and did not mention Canada’s “legally binding” targets regarding the Paris Climate Agreement. May said she would change her vote to support the budget after a question period exchange on Nov. 17, during which Carney committed to meet Canada’s Paris targets.

After the budget’s initial release, NDP’s Davies had said his party would “take the time to study” the budget and “consult with stakeholders” before deciding whether to vote in favour. Davies previously said his party could not support an austerity budget, and that MPs from his party could choose to abstain from voting.

Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques said in his review of the budget that the government relies on an “overly expansive” definition of capital investments, which could overstate capital spending. He added that if a stricter definition were used, the government would not be able to meet its promise to balance operational spending by 2028–29.

During question period prior to the budget vote on Nov. 17, Poilievre said Carney was treating the federal government’s finances like a “credit card with no limits,” which would lead to “surges” in prices for housing, groceries, and taxes.

Carney responded that Budget 2025 is a “generational investment budget” that would grow Canada’s economy, and said that wages have been growing faster than inflation in Canada, “despite the attacks on this economy by the Americans and despite the obstruction of the Opposition.”

This is a developing story, updates will follow.