Ottawa — The minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to survive its first major confidence test tonight, after the New Democratic Party (NDP) confirmed it will vote with the Liberals in the House of Commons on the Conservative sub-amendment to the 2025 federal budget.
The vote — scheduled for approximately 5:45 p.m. ET — marks the first confidence motion linked to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s budget, tabled last week. The government has classified both the Conservative sub-amendment and a Bloc Québécois amendment as confidence votes, since both explicitly reject the budget’s fiscal direction.
“As these motions both explicitly reject the budget, they are considered to be matters of confidence,” said Mark Kennedy, communications director for Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon.
Any speculation over whether the Liberals could fall in tonight’s vote quickly ended after Interim NDP Leader Don Davies announced his party will oppose the Conservative motion.
“We’re not supporting it,” Davies said Thursday on Parliament Hill. “The Conservatives want massive cuts to public spending — that’s exactly the opposite direction that New Democrats think we need to go in. Absolutely no way we’re going to support the Conservative motion today. It’s absolutely irresponsible.”
The Conservative sub-amendment, introduced by MP Jasraj Singh Hallan, calls on the House to reject the government’s budget, arguing that it “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 motion also criticizes the size of the deficit, the carbon tax, government spending, and the absence of new oil and gas pipeline plans.
Meanwhile, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet tabled his party’s amendment ahead of the Conservatives — an unusual procedural move that reversed the normal parliamentary order. The Bloc motion, to be voted on Friday, also seeks to defeat the budget, claiming it “is harmful to Quebec” and fails to address key priorities such as increased Canada Health Transfer funding, Old Age Security enhancements, and stronger climate change measures.
Davies said the NDP’s seven-member caucus is still debating how to vote on the Bloc motion. However, he made clear that preventing a snap election was not the primary motivation behind his party’s decision.
“While the government falling is always a concern, that’s not our main consideration,” Davies said, noting that the NDP’s focus remains on protecting public services and affordability measures in the budget.
With NDP support secured, tonight’s Conservative motion is expected to fail, ensuring the Carney government remains in power as Parliament prepares for the next phase of budget debate later this month.