Canada Liberals survive confidence vote

[Richard K Niner]

<a href='http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national ... 50519.html' target='_blank'>Source</a><br><!--QuoteBegin--> <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'><b>Quote:</b> </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> <b>Government survives two confidence votes</b><br>Last Updated Thu, 19 May 2005 18:28:06 EDT<br>CBC News<br><br>OTTAWA - By a razor-thin margin, Paul Martin's minority government survived a confidence vote late Thursday afternoon, staving off a snap election.<br><br>With the support of Independent MP Chuck Cadman, the House voted evenly 152 to 152 on Bill C-48, an amendment to the budget that adds $4.6 billion in social program spending and delays corporate tax cuts.<br><br>That left Speaker of the House Peter Milliken, who is a Liberal MP, to break the tie and vote for the budget. The Speaker only votes in the event of a tie.<br><br>If the amendment had failed, Martin would have asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call a general election likely for the end of June, only a year after the last election, in June 2004.<br><br>The amendment was one of two-non-confidence votes that could have toppled Martin's government.<br><br>But there was little drama over the result of the Liberal's budget bill, Bill C-43, as Conservative Leader Stephen Harper had already said his party would vote in favour.<br><br>It was expected the second non-confidence vote would be decided by a couple votes.<br><br>With the defection of former Tory MP Belinda Stronach to the Liberal fold, the Liberal-NDP coalition on the budget amendment totalled 150 votes leading up to the vote one fewer than the Conservative-Bloc Qubcois coalition.<br><br>(A Liberal MP agreed to sit out the vote as a courtesy because cancer surgery was keeping Conservative MP Darrel Stinson away from the House of Commons.)<br><br>Independent MP Carolyn Parrish, a former Liberal, had said she would support the budget, giving the Liberals 151 votes.<br><br>Earlier Thursday, Independent MP David Kilgour had confirmed he would vote against the amendment, meaning all eyes were focused on Cadman.<br><br>Cadman had said that he wanted to hear from his constituents before making a final decision on how he would vote. But after a recent poll of 600 eligible voters in his riding of Surrey North indicated two-thirds of respondents didn't want an election, he had hinted that he would support the budget.<br><br>Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has indicated he will not continue to test the government with more non-confidence motions before the House breaks for summer recess next month.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table> <!--QuoteEEnd-->