Election avoided as MPs vote in favour of budget
The federal budget easily passed in the House of Commons on Tuesday, an important confidence vote for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government.
If the budget hadn't passed, it could have triggered an election.
Harpersaid the budget vote meanthis government "survived another test" and suggested its passage means an election is not on the immediate horizon.
"There are a lot of important tax measures, a lot of important social measures, environmental measures [in the budget]," Harper said.
"So I'm glad to see us moving forward on those things and I hope in the next few months we'll be able to get done the things Canadians elected us to do."
The prime minister's comments come despite signs the Tories have been preparing for an election, with campaign-style advertising andannouncements. Pundits have suggestedthe Tories want to take advantage of strong poll numbers and wrestcrucial seats from the Blocafter the poor showing of their provincial counterparts in Monday's Quebec election.
MP kicked out of Liberal caucus for supporting budget
Liberal and NDP members of Parliament voted against the budget, while the Conservatives and Independent MP Joe Comuzzivoted forit.
Comuzzi,a veteran MP fromThunder Bay, Ont.,was kicked out of the Liberalcaucus on March 21 when he announced he would support the Conservative budget. When he cast his vote Monday, he received a standing ovation from the Conservatives.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty presented the budget on March 19, promising incentives for environmental initiatives and a string of small personal financial breaks for Canadians, including income tax measures.
One of the cornerstones of the budget isa promise to spend an extra $1.5 billion in the coming fiscal year to correct the so-called "fiscal imbalance" — the claim that the provinces are not getting their fair share of the money collected by Ottawa.
Quebec, which saw the Liberals re-elected Monday, in a minority government, is pegged to get the bulk of the new money, roughly $698 million.
Saskatchewan would follow with $226 million, meaning that it would get the most per provincial resident, at $230.
With files from the Canadian Press