Ottawa (EFE).- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government survived Monday after the House of Commons passed the federal budget, thanks to the support of one opposition lawmaker and the abstention of two others.
In Canada, the federal budget vote is considered a matter of confidence. A defeat in the House would have automatically brought down Carney’s government and triggered a general election.
The budget — Carney’s first since taking office — passed with 170 votes in favor and 168 against. Carney’s Liberal Party governs in a minority, holding 169 of the chamber’s 343 seats.
Voting against the budget were lawmakers from the Conservative Party, the main opposition bloc, and the separatist Bloc Québécois. Five members of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) also opposed it, while two others abstained.
Elizabeth May, the Green Party’s sole MP, voted with the Liberals.
The two NDP abstentions and May’s support prevented a government defeat and an early election only seven months after the last one.
Carney — who served as governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020 — introduced his first federal budget in early November.
The legislation passed Monday focuses on responding to changes in Canada’s trade and political relationship with the United States following the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House.
Over the next five years, the budget allocates 280 billion Canadian dollars (about 200 billion U.S. dollars) for capital investments in housing, defense, infrastructure, clean energy and productivity programs.
Carney also plans to reduce government operating spending and shrink the public service, cut taxes for middle-income households and create a new housing agency — Build Canada Homes — to speed up construction and attract private investment.
Until this year, about 76 percent of Canada’s exports went to the United States. But after Trump imposed the highest tariffs on Canada among all G7 partners, Carney’s government is pushing policies to expand domestic trade and increase commerce with Europe. EFE
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